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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — of the year
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. march — the month
  6. kid — to tease
  7. saw — the tool
  8. season — in sport
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. tear — to rip
  12. saw — the tool
  13. field — for sport
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. field — a subject
  16. bear — the animal
  17. rush — hurry
  18. tear — from crying
  19. march — the month
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bear — the animal
  22. field — farmland
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. march — 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