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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. swing — to play on
  3. field — for sport
  4. row — a line
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. field — a subject
  7. bat — the animal
  8. field — farmland
  9. swing — music
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. kid — child
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. row — to paddle
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. kid — to tease
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. swing — in golf
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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