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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. row — to paddle
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. perch — the fish
  7. shower — rain
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. field — a subject
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kid — to tease
  17. field — for sport
  18. fall — the season
  19. shower — to wash
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — completely
  23. row — a line
  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