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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. deal — to handle
  3. squash — to crush
  4. pit — a hole
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. row — a line
  11. kid — child
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. row — to paddle
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. squash — the sport
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. pit — in a race
  20. hand — help
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. tear — to rip
  24. march — music

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