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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. charge — electricity
  8. field — a subject
  9. rash — hasty
  10. season — of the year
  11. field — farmland
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. charge — in control
  14. kid — child
  15. field — for sport
  16. row — a line
  17. rash — a series
  18. row — to paddle
  19. season — in sport
  20. charge — a price
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. kid — to tease
  23. wax — to grow
  24. mine — for digging

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