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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. kid — to tease
  3. field — a subject
  4. kid — child
  5. field — for sport
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bank — of a river
  9. swing — in golf
  10. sharp — clever
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. bank — for money
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. row — a line
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. swing — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. row — to paddle
  22. swing — to play on
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bank — for money

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