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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. spring — of water
  3. ball — a great time
  4. cue — a signal
  5. charge — in control
  6. degree — temperature
  7. spring — a coil
  8. chest — a box
  9. ground — a position
  10. cue — for pool
  11. ball — a dance
  12. charge — a price
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ground — the earth
  15. kid — to tease
  16. charge — electricity
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. chest — of your body
  19. spring — the season
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. degree — from a university
  22. ground — crushed
  23. cue — a hint
  24. degree — an amount

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