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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. swing — to play on
  3. pit — in a race
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. field — farmland
  7. swing — in golf
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. pit — a hole
  15. snap — to click
  16. swing — music
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. row — a line
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. rush — hurry
  21. kid — child
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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