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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. march — the month
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pit — a hole
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. bound — certain
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kid — child
  10. cell — a phone
  11. object — a thing
  12. pit — in a race
  13. march — the month
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cold — an illness
  17. deal — to handle
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. march — music
  22. object — an aim
  23. cell — in biology
  24. object — to protest

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