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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 116 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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. kid — to tease
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. deal — to handle
  9. pound — a weight
  10. kid — child
  11. content — happy
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. game — wild animals
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. cold — not warm
  18. hand — help
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. content — the amount
  22. hand — in cards
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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