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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rash — hasty
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. current — electric
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — to tease
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. prune — to trim
  10. field — for sport
  11. tear — to rip
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. tear — from crying
  15. prune — to trim
  16. current — of water
  17. tear — from crying
  18. current — happening now
  19. field — farmland
  20. rash — a series
  21. field — a subject
  22. pit — a hole
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. prune — the fruit

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