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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. hand — help
  3. chip — to eat
  4. rest — what's left
  5. kid — child
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. march — the month
  9. chip — for betting
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. kid — to tease
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. field — a subject
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. march — the month
  16. rest — a break
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. hand — in cards
  19. rest — what's left
  20. field — for sport
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. field — farmland

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