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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. kid — to tease
  3. present — a gift
  4. file — a line of people
  5. present — there
  6. present — the time now
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. court — for sport
  9. rest — what's left
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — a position
  13. rest — a break
  14. file — a document
  15. rest — what's left
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. court — of law
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. bat — the animal
  20. kid — child
  21. stand — to bear
  22. file — a tool
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. court — of a king

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