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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. ground — the earth
  5. ground — crushed
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. ground — a position
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. date — the fruit
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spring — of water
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spring — the season
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wound — an injury
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. spring — a coil

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