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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  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. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. present — the time now
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. clip — for paper
  7. present — a gift
  8. row — to paddle
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. key — in music
  11. kid — to tease
  12. present — there
  13. key — the most important part
  14. field — farmland
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. field — for sport
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. field — a subject
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. clip — to cut
  21. key — for a lock
  22. clip — a video
  23. fan — a supporter
  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