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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.

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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ground — crushed
  3. current — happening now
  4. kid — to tease
  5. saw — the tool
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. kid — child
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. saw — the tool
  12. ground — a position
  13. current — of water
  14. ground — the earth
  15. game — a match
  16. game — wild animals
  17. current — electric
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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