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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. kid — child
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. field — for sport
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tube — a container
  7. land — to come down
  8. spring — the season
  9. tube — the underground
  10. land — a country
  11. mug — to rob
  12. field — a subject
  13. land — ground
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. mug — a face
  16. mug — a cup
  17. spring — of water
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. swing — in golf
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. tube — in a tire

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