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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. row — to paddle
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. field — a subject
  5. squash — to crush
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. march — music
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. march — the month
  14. squash — the sport
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. row — a line
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. field — for sport
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. field — farmland
  23. pitch — completely
  24. march — the month

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