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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. march — the month
  3. ground — crushed
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kid — to tease
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — child
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. ground — the earth
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. stand — to bear
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. march — the month
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. ground — a position
  20. tear — to rip
  21. march — music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. cold — not warm

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