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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. game — wild animals
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. present — a gift
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. game — a match
  13. season — of the year
  14. mark — a grade
  15. mark — a trace
  16. present — there
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. kid — to tease
  19. season — in sport
  20. present — the time now
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. hand — part of the body

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