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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. hand — help
  6. lean — thin
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. spring — of water
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. kid — child
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. ground — a position
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. spring — the season
  20. hand — in cards
  21. spring — a coil
  22. kid — to tease
  23. dip — to sink
  24. ground — the earth

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