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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. spell — letters
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pop — soda
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. pop — music
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — size or range
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. kid — to tease
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. chair — a leader
  16. spell — a short time
  17. kid — child
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. pop — to visit
  20. saw — the tool
  21. spell — magic
  22. saw — the tool
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. sharp — clever

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