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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. ground — a position
  3. field — for sport
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — the earth
  7. hand — in cards
  8. can — a tin
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. can — to be able to
  12. hand — help
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. can — a tin
  15. field — a subject
  16. rash — a series
  17. ball — a dance
  18. rash — hasty
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. ground — crushed
  23. field — farmland
  24. ball — a great time

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