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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 120 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. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. ball — a dance
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. drill — a practice
  9. tube — the underground
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. drill — army training
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. ground — crushed
  16. bear — the animal
  17. ground — a position
  18. tube — a container
  19. ground — the earth
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. ball — a great time
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. bear — the animal
  24. straw — a straw man

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