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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. march — the month
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. march — the month
  6. kid — child
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. march — music
  9. face — to confront
  10. court — for sport
  11. dip — to sink
  12. scale — in music
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. court — of a king
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. kid — to tease
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — rain
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. face — to point toward
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. face — part of the head
  24. court — of law

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