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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. ball — a great time
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. net — after costs
  5. mug — a cup
  6. mug — to rob
  7. track — a path
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. ball — a dance
  12. net — for catching
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spell — a short time
  15. mug — a face
  16. kid — child
  17. track — to keep track
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. track — a song
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — magic
  23. foot — a measure
  24. hand — help

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