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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mug — a cup
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. kid — child
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mug — to rob
  10. fall — to drop
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. mug — a face
  13. fall — to drop
  14. kid — to tease
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. suit — to fit
  17. snap — to click
  18. field — a subject
  19. suit — clothes
  20. suit — in cards
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. fall — the season
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. pitcher — a jug

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