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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. field — farmland
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. fall — to drop
  8. field — for sport
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. bear — the animal
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. fall — the season
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. band — a music group
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. bear — the animal
  18. band — a ring
  19. stand — to bear
  20. fall — to drop
  21. kid — child
  22. date — the fruit
  23. field — a subject
  24. band — a rubber band

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com