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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. wound — an injury
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. file — a tool
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. scale — in music
  9. file — a line of people
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. court — for sport
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. kid — child
  15. court — of a king
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. wake — a trail
  20. file — a document
  21. court — of law
  22. scale — size or range
  23. squash — the sport
  24. ruler — for measuring

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