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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. game — a match
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. field — a subject
  8. stock — goods
  9. march — the month
  10. field — farmland
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. march — the month
  13. kid — to tease
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. game — wild animals
  16. march — music
  17. field — for sport
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. stock — shares
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chair — a leader
  22. lie — to recline
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. kid — child

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