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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. last — to go on
  2. field — farmland
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. charge — in control
  5. charge — a price
  6. degree — from a university
  7. charge — electricity
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. field — a subject
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. degree — temperature
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. last — final
  18. kid — child
  19. last — finally
  20. field — for sport
  21. court — of law
  22. fork — in a road
  23. degree — an amount
  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