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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. kid — to tease
  4. ball — a dance
  5. kid — child
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. cold — an illness
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. field — a subject
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. current — electric
  15. ball — a great time
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tube — a container
  19. field — for sport
  20. current — of water
  21. cold — not warm
  22. tube — the underground
  23. current — happening now
  24. stem — to come from

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