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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. kid — child
  3. sharp — clever
  4. track — a song
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cap — a hat
  7. track — a path
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. mine — for digging
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — of ice
  15. track — to keep track
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. kid — to tease
  18. roll — a cake
  19. tear — from crying
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. tear — from crying
  23. fork — in a road
  24. roll — a list

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