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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. swing — in golf
  3. field — farmland
  4. swing — to play on
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. swing — music
  7. rash — hasty
  8. hand — in cards
  9. land — a country
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. land — ground
  14. mate — a partner
  15. kid — child
  16. field — for sport
  17. snap — to click
  18. field — a subject
  19. kid — to tease
  20. mate — a friend
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. hand — help
  23. rash — a series
  24. land — to come down

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