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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. fine — all right
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. tear — to rip
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. spring — the season
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. game — a match
  14. board — a committee
  15. fine — high quality
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. spring — a coil
  18. game — wild animals
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. board — to get on
  23. spring — of water
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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