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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. can — a tin
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. can — a tin
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. can — to be able to
  15. kid — child
  16. ground — crushed
  17. object — an aim
  18. object — to protest
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. object — a thing
  22. pound — a weight
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ground — a position

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