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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. field — for sport
  4. rock — a stone
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. wound — an injury
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. branch — a division
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. sharp — clever
  17. kid — child
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. field — a subject
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. field — farmland
  24. wound — an injury

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