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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. staff — employees
  3. spell — letters
  4. ground — a position
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. staff — a stick
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. kid — to tease
  10. capital — money
  11. race — humankind
  12. game — wild animals
  13. ground — the earth
  14. staff — employees
  15. spell — a short time
  16. race — a contest
  17. ground — crushed
  18. race — the arms race
  19. capital — a city
  20. spell — magic
  21. perch — the fish
  22. kid — child
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. game — a match

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