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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. ground — a position
  3. kid — child
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pit — a hole
  10. net — after costs
  11. game — wild animals
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. hand — help
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. scale — in music
  17. net — in sport
  18. hand — in cards
  19. kid — to tease
  20. game — a match
  21. scale — size or range
  22. ground — crushed
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. pit — in a race

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