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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chair — a leader
  3. row — to paddle
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. row — a line
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. season — in sport
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — a coil
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bark — to shout
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. kid — child
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. spring — of water
  22. season — of the year
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. spring — the season

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