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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. lean — to bend
  3. ground — crushed
  4. row — a line
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. race — humankind
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. kid — child
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. kid — to tease
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. deal — to handle
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. race — a contest
  19. lean — thin
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — in cards
  23. race — the arms race
  24. row — to paddle

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