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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. net — for catching
  4. bat — the animal
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. can — a tin
  7. net — after costs
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — to tease
  11. degree — an amount
  12. can — a tin
  13. object — to protest
  14. ground — the earth
  15. object — an aim
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. net — in sport
  19. object — a thing
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. can — to be able to
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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