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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. cap — of ice
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. cap — a hat
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. cap — a lid
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. fine — high quality
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. field — a subject
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — farmland
  19. snap — to click
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. kid — child
  23. rush — hurry
  24. kid — to tease

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