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

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. staff — a stick
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mark — a grade
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. game — wild animals
  7. kid — child
  8. mark — a trace
  9. staff — employees
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. cold — an illness
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. staff — employees
  16. kid — to tease
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play

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