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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — for sport
  4. kid — child
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. club — a group
  7. hand — help
  8. kid — to tease
  9. ball — a great time
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. bulb — for light
  12. chip — for betting
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. club — for golf
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. hand — in cards
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bulb — for light
  20. chip — to eat
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wind — moving air
  23. club — for dancing
  24. bulb — of a plant

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