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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. track — to keep track
  3. hand — in cards
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. track — a path
  10. chair — a leader
  11. spring — the season
  12. kid — child
  13. object — to protest
  14. kid — to tease
  15. track — a song
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. object — a thing
  19. object — an aim
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. fine — high quality
  22. spring — of water
  23. fine — all right
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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