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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. kid — child
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. track — a path
  7. track — to keep track
  8. shower — to wash
  9. pass — a permit
  10. shower — rain
  11. field — for sport
  12. track — a song
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. field — a subject
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. field — farmland
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wax — to grow
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — to shout

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