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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. perch — the fish
  5. fine — high quality
  6. field — a subject
  7. mark — a trace
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. cold — an illness
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. kid — to tease
  13. fine — all right
  14. kid — child
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ball — a dance
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. kick — in football
  24. ball — a great time

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