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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. lean — to bend
  3. kid — to tease
  4. lean — thin
  5. kid — child
  6. firm — steady
  7. firm — a company
  8. land — to come down
  9. field — for sport
  10. firm — decided
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. land — ground
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. field — a subject
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. field — farmland
  20. land — a country
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. wake — a trail
  24. tear — from crying

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