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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bound — tied together
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. content — happy
  11. bound — obliged
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. content — the amount
  14. bound — certain
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. hand — help
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. content — videos and posts

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