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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. hand — help
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. ball — a dance
  5. scale — size or range
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. hand — in cards
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. scale — in music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. season — of the year
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. row — a line
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. row — to paddle
  23. ball — a great time
  24. season — in sport

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