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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. row — a line
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. staff — employees
  7. bass — the fish
  8. present — there
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. row — to paddle
  13. kid — to tease
  14. staff — a stick
  15. present — a gift
  16. wound — an injury
  17. staff — employees
  18. present — the time now
  19. kid — child
  20. bass — low music
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. hand — help

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