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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: field · kid · spell · rest · arm · dip · mine · hand

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. kid — to tease
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rest — a break
  5. hand — in cards
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. spell — magic
  8. kid — child
  9. rest — what's left
  10. field — a subject
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. spell — a short time
  13. hand — help
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. mine — for digging
  24. hand — part of the body

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