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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mate — a partner
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. field — for sport
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. mate — to breed
  10. pop — soda
  11. mate — a friend
  12. rash — hasty
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. rash — a series
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. kid — child
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. stand — to bear
  22. pop — music
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. pop — to visit

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