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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. field — for sport
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. dip — to sink
  6. ground — the earth
  7. craft — a skill
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. ground — crushed
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. band — a music group
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. band — a ring
  20. ground — a position
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. craft — boats
  24. dip — a sauce

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