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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. march — the month
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. field — a subject
  5. vault — a safe
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. march — music
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. land — ground
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. file — a line of people
  13. kid — to tease
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. kid — child
  16. land — a country
  17. file — a tool
  18. field — for sport
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. file — a document
  21. field — farmland
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. march — the month

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