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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fine — all right
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. row — a line
  6. bark — to shout
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. fall — to drop
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. fall — the season
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. kid — to tease
  19. fall — to drop
  20. row — to paddle
  21. fine — high quality
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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