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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. kick — in football
  7. bark — to shout
  8. field — a subject
  9. kid — child
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. charge — in control
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. charge — a price
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. charge — electricity
  21. chair — a leader
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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