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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · pit · bear · field · arm · kid

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. kid — child
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. last — to go on
  5. kid — to tease
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. last — final
  9. last — finally
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. field — farmland
  12. bear — the animal
  13. field — for sport
  14. pit — a hole
  15. bear — the animal
  16. field — a subject
  17. pit — in a race
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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