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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pound — a weight
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of law
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. race — humankind
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. race — a contest
  14. press — a publisher
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. press — to push
  17. shower — to wash
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. race — the arms race
  20. press — newspapers
  21. kid — child
  22. shower — rain
  23. court — of a king
  24. hide — to keep secret

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