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

Word bank: rock · racket · game · rest · field · present · cold · kid

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rest — what's left
  3. field — for sport
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rock — music
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. game — a match
  8. cold — not warm
  9. field — a subject
  10. present — there
  11. rest — what's left
  12. kid — child
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. rest — a break
  15. rock — a stone
  16. kid — to tease
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. present — the time now
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. field — farmland
  23. present — a gift
  24. game — wild animals

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