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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 120 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mug — a face
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. squash — to crush
  6. board — to get on
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. chest — of your body
  9. dip — to sink
  10. field — for sport
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. board — a committee
  13. race — the arms race
  14. kid — to tease
  15. squash — the sport
  16. mug — to rob
  17. kid — child
  18. race — a contest
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. race — humankind
  22. mug — a cup
  23. field — a subject
  24. squash — the vegetable

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