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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. swing — in golf
  4. kid — to tease
  5. field — farmland
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. chip — for betting
  8. field — for sport
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. chip — to eat
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bulb — for light
  13. field — a subject
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. branch — a division
  17. bulb — for light
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. swing — music
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. swing — to play on

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