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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bound — obliged
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rule — government
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. game — wild animals
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. ground — crushed
  9. snap — to click
  10. bound — certain
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. kid — child
  13. rule — a law
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. ground — a position
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. ground — the earth
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. bound — tied together
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. game — a match
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. racket — for tennis

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