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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. pass — a permit
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. field — a subject
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. wound — an injury
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. lean — to bend
  13. spring — the season
  14. lean — thin
  15. field — farmland
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. field — for sport
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. spring — of water
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. spring — a coil
  24. kid — to tease

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