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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  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. hand — in cards
  2. fine — high quality
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. hand — help
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. land — to come down
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. current — of water
  10. kid — child
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. current — electric
  14. field — for sport
  15. land — ground
  16. fine — all right
  17. land — a country
  18. prune — to trim
  19. current — happening now
  20. rush — hurry
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. fine — a penalty
  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