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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 116 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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — the earth
  4. cold — an illness
  5. present — there
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. game — a match
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. kid — child
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. kid — to tease
  13. sharp — clever
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. ground — crushed
  21. present — the time now
  22. game — wild animals
  23. present — a gift
  24. trunk — of a tree

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