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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. capital — a city
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. game — a match
  7. present — there
  8. game — wild animals
  9. foot — a measure
  10. roll — a list
  11. roll — a cake
  12. kid — to tease
  13. capital — money
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pitch — completely
  17. kid — child
  18. present — a gift
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. present — the time now
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. hand — part of the body

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