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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 124 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. kid — child
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cap — a hat
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. kid — to tease
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cap — a lid
  11. field — farmland
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a line
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cap — of ice
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. field — a subject
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. bear — the animal

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