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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bear — the animal
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. rash — a series
  5. kid — to tease
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. field — a subject
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cold — an illness
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cold — not warm
  12. field — farmland
  13. dip — to sink
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bear — the animal
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. rash — hasty
  22. kid — child
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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