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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. ground — a position
  3. hand — in cards
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. object — to protest
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. field — a subject
  9. ground — the earth
  10. pit — a hole
  11. race — a contest
  12. kid — to tease
  13. race — the arms race
  14. field — for sport
  15. object — a thing
  16. pit — in a race
  17. field — farmland
  18. object — an aim
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. race — humankind
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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