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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. club — a group
  4. club — for dancing
  5. field — for sport
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. kid — child
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — in sport
  13. rush — hurry
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. net — for catching
  16. kid — to tease
  17. field — a subject
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. march — the month
  20. field — farmland
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. club — for golf

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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