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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rule — a law
  3. craft — boats
  4. ground — crushed
  5. shower — to wash
  6. craft — a skill
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. ground — the earth
  9. shower — rain
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rule — government
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rest — a break
  16. kid — child
  17. ground — a position
  18. rest — what's left

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