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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — wild animals
  4. mate — a friend
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. hand — help
  11. cold — an illness
  12. saw — the tool
  13. tear — to rip
  14. game — a match
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. cold — not warm
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. saw — the tool
  20. mate — to breed
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hand — in cards
  24. mate — a partner

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