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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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. ground — the earth
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rule — a law
  6. clip — a video
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. ground — crushed
  9. craft — a skill
  10. rest — a break
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. ground — a position
  13. clip — to cut
  14. shower — rain
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. pitch — completely
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rule — government
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rest — what's left
  22. craft — boats
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. rest — what's left

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