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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — of ice
  3. field — for sport
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. scale — size or range
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. present — the time now
  9. present — there
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. kid — child
  12. present — a gift
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. stock — goods
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cap — a lid
  18. scale — in music
  19. stock — shares
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. cap — a hat
  23. bear — the animal
  24. mouse — the animal

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