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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. fine — all right
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. pop — music
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. ground — the earth
  12. fine — high quality
  13. kid — to tease
  14. scale — in music
  15. pop — soda
  16. ground — crushed
  17. last — final
  18. row — a line
  19. last — finally
  20. scale — size or range
  21. last — to go on
  22. row — to paddle
  23. ground — a position
  24. pop — to visit

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