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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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Word bank
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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. field — for sport
  3. hand — help
  4. bass — low music
  5. kick — in football
  6. hand — in cards
  7. scale — in music
  8. field — farmland
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. field — a subject
  13. bass — the fish
  14. scale — size or range
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. rash — hasty
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. rash — a series
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. rash — on the skin

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