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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. kid — child
  4. last — to go on
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. row — to paddle
  7. can — a tin
  8. swing — to play on
  9. field — for sport
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. last — final
  12. chest — a box
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chest — of your body
  15. swing — in golf
  16. can — a tin
  17. row — a line
  18. last — finally
  19. can — to be able to
  20. chest — of your body
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. kid — to tease
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. swing — music

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