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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — a hat
  3. kid — child
  4. lie — to recline
  5. club — for golf
  6. cap — a lid
  7. wind — moving air
  8. club — for dancing
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. cap — of ice
  17. club — a group
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — farmland
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — for sport
  24. lie — an untruth

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