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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 120 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. kid — child
  3. hand — in cards
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. dip — to sink
  6. fine — all right
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. kid — to tease
  9. field — farmland
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. field — a subject
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. field — for sport
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. hand — help
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fine — high quality
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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