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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. can — to be able to
  3. cold — an illness
  4. can — a tin
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kid — to tease
  7. can — a tin
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. track — a song
  11. field — farmland
  12. cold — not warm
  13. track — a path
  14. track — to keep track
  15. field — a subject
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. kid — child
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. prune — to trim
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. kick — in football

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