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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 120 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. squash — the sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. squash — to crush
  8. rule — government
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. scale — in music
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. scale — size or range
  15. pass — a permit
  16. field — for sport
  17. rule — a law
  18. field — farmland
  19. chest — a box
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. field — a subject
  22. kid — child
  23. chest — of your body
  24. racket — for tennis

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