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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. field — farmland
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stock — goods
  8. rest — what's left
  9. fine — all right
  10. rest — what's left
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. degree — from a university
  14. kid — child
  15. stock — shares
  16. field — a subject
  17. fine — high quality
  18. game — a match
  19. degree — an amount
  20. rest — a break
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. field — for sport
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. game — wild animals

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