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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. field — for sport
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. field — farmland
  7. club — for dancing
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. field — a subject
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. club — for golf
  19. dip — to sink
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. club — a group
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — to sit on

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