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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 116 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. spell — a short time
  3. pop — to visit
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. kid — child
  7. spell — letters
  8. field — for sport
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chip — to eat
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. pop — soda
  14. kid — to tease
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. spell — magic
  17. field — a subject
  18. pop — music
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. chip — for betting
  22. field — farmland
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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