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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. field — a subject
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. rest — what's left
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cap — a hat
  13. field — farmland
  14. fine — all right
  15. rest — a break
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — for sport
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cap — of ice
  22. rest — what's left
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. mouse — the animal

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