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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. kid — child
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. file — a document
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. field — farmland
  9. deal — to handle
  10. hand — in cards
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. hand — help
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. file — a line of people
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. kid — to tease
  19. field — a subject
  20. race — a contest
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. file — a tool

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