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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. kid — to tease
  6. last — to go on
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. present — the time now
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. kid — child
  12. hand — in cards
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — music
  17. hand — help
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. field — farmland
  22. bark — to shout
  23. present — there
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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