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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. bear — the animal
  3. ground — crushed
  4. file — a line of people
  5. kid — child
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. file — a tool
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. cap — of ice
  10. court — of a king
  11. file — a document
  12. fine — all right
  13. court — of law
  14. ground — the earth
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — a hat
  17. bear — the animal
  18. court — for sport
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. shower — rain
  21. ground — a position
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. shower — to wash

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