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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. foot — a measure
  4. kid — to tease
  5. scale — in music
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. cell — in biology
  9. spring — a coil
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. mine — for digging
  12. scale — size or range
  13. spring — the season
  14. stock — shares
  15. fork — in a road
  16. stock — goods
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cell — a phone
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. spring — of water
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. kid — child

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