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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. field — for sport
  3. swing — music
  4. kid — to tease
  5. track — a path
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bound — certain
  8. field — a subject
  9. kick — in football
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. clip — a video
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. bound — obliged
  16. clip — to cut
  17. field — farmland
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bound — tied together
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — to play on
  24. track — a song

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