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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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468
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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. cell — a phone
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cue — a signal
  6. roll — a cake
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. chest — a box
  9. ground — a position
  10. cue — for pool
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wind — moving air
  15. dip — to sink
  16. cell — in biology
  17. roll — a list
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cue — a hint
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. ground — the earth

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