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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. field — for sport
  3. net — in sport
  4. file — a tool
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. kid — child
  8. net — after costs
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. file — a line of people
  12. hand — in cards
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. file — a document
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. net — for catching
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — farmland
  21. stand — to bear
  22. hand — help
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. hand — part of the body

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