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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  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. saw — the tool
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. ground — crushed
  5. swing — in golf
  6. field — a subject
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. saw — the tool
  11. ground — the earth
  12. content — happy
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. ground — a position
  15. content — the amount
  16. field — farmland
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. swing — music
  19. game — wild animals
  20. swing — to play on
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. field — for sport
  23. game — a match
  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