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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. firm — steady
  3. field — farmland
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. degree — an amount
  7. field — for sport
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kid — to tease
  10. shower — rain
  11. firm — a company
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. degree — temperature
  15. chip — for betting
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. field — a subject
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. kid — child
  21. spring — of water
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. firm — decided
  24. shower — to wash

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