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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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Word bank
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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: rush · chip · pitcher · kid · mine · field · hand · leaves

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. hand — in cards
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. mine — for digging
  9. field — a subject
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. kid — child
  14. chip — to eat
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pitcher — a jug

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