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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. face — to point toward
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — hurry
  6. field — farmland
  7. face — part of the head
  8. kid — child
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — soda
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. saw — the tool
  17. face — to confront
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. field — a subject
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pound — a weight

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