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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. kid — child
  5. ground — crushed
  6. spring — the season
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. perch — the fish
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — a weight
  14. hand — help
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. ground — the earth
  17. spring — a coil
  18. ground — a position
  19. spring — of water
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. perch — for a bird

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