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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — a gift
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. cap — a lid
  10. field — for sport
  11. cap — of ice
  12. kid — child
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. cap — a hat
  15. mark — a grade
  16. field — a subject
  17. mark — a trace
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ground — the earth
  20. present — there
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. field — farmland

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