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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 was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. degree — temperature
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — in sport
  6. bat — the animal
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. kid — child
  9. snap — to click
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. field — a subject
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. field — farmland
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. field — for sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. season — of the year
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. degree — an amount
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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