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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — crushed
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. can — to be able to
  8. saw — the tool
  9. kid — child
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. degree — temperature
  12. can — a tin
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. degree — from a university
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. squash — to crush
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. can — a tin
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. ground — the earth

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