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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. chest — of your body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. bear — the animal
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. field — farmland
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. field — a subject
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. drill — the tool
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bear — the animal
  20. drill — army training
  21. chest — a box
  22. drill — a practice
  23. field — for sport
  24. kid — child

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