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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. rock — a stone
  4. kid — to tease
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bore — to drill
  10. ground — a position
  11. kid — child
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bore — to tire
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. saw — the tool
  18. rock — music
  19. march — music
  20. saw — the tool
  21. scale — size or range
  22. march — the month
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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