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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cap — a lid
  4. rest — what's left
  5. cap — of ice
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. cap — a hat
  8. season — in sport
  9. craft — a skill
  10. field — farmland
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cold — not warm
  13. season — of the year
  14. craft — boats
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. field — a subject
  18. kid — child
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. rest — what's left
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. rest — a break

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