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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. ground — a position
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. dip — to sink
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stock — shares
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. tear — from crying
  15. prune — to trim
  16. tear — to rip
  17. plane — a tool
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — crushed
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. tear — from crying
  23. prune — the fruit
  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