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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. game — wild animals
  6. track — a path
  7. field — for sport
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. net — after costs
  10. kid — to tease
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. net — in sport
  14. lean — to bend
  15. deal — to handle
  16. game — a match
  17. track — to keep track
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. lean — thin
  21. net — for catching
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. track — a song

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