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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 124 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 like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. kick — in football
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. last — finally
  6. hand — in cards
  7. ground — the earth
  8. last — to go on
  9. pop — soda
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. pop — to visit
  13. scale — size or range
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. hand — help
  16. roll — a list
  17. pop — music
  18. ground — a position
  19. roll — a cake
  20. last — final
  21. scale — in music
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. kick — with a leg

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