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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. swing — music
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a great time
  4. hand — help
  5. field — a subject
  6. swing — in golf
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. press — newspapers
  9. field — farmland
  10. press — to push
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. hand — in cards
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. field — for sport
  16. kid — to tease
  17. press — a publisher
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. kid — child
  20. row — a line
  21. row — to paddle
  22. swing — to play on
  23. hand — part of the body
  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