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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: chip · field · deal · race · kid · prune · row · mate

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. chip — to eat
  3. deal — to handle
  4. kid — to tease
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. field — farmland
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. mate — a friend
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. race — humankind
  12. mate — to breed
  13. row — a line
  14. kid — child
  15. chip — for betting
  16. field — a subject
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. race — the arms race
  19. mate — a partner
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. field — for sport
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. row — to paddle
  24. deal — a big deal

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