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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 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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. land — to come down
  3. ground — a position
  4. mark — a trace
  5. track — a song
  6. ground — the earth
  7. kid — child
  8. spring — the season
  9. track — to keep track
  10. spring — a coil
  11. track — a path
  12. land — ground
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. ground — crushed
  15. mark — a grade
  16. land — a country
  17. spring — of water
  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