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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — in sport
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. net — after costs
  8. ground — crushed
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. ground — a position
  11. bound — obliged
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rush — hurry
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. bound — tied together
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kid — child
  18. bound — certain
  19. tear — from crying
  20. ground — the earth
  21. chair — a leader
  22. kid — to tease
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. tear — to rip

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