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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bat — the animal
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. face — part of the head
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. face — to point toward
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. face — to confront
  11. kid — child
  12. lean — to bend
  13. lean — thin
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. game — a match
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. kid — to tease
  19. shower — to wash
  20. foot — a measure
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. shower — rain
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. game — wild animals

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