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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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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. fine — high quality
  3. last — to go on
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. ground — crushed
  9. kid — child
  10. ground — a position
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. last — final
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. kid — to tease
  17. scale — size or range
  18. ground — the earth
  19. cap — a lid
  20. fine — all right
  21. cap — a hat
  22. scale — in music
  23. cap — of ice
  24. fine — a penalty

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