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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. sharp — clever
  3. kid — child
  4. drill — a practice
  5. pit — a hole
  6. net — in sport
  7. drill — the tool
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — to crush
  10. rest — what's left
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. net — for catching
  14. rest — what's left
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. pit — in a race
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country
  19. squash — the sport
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. drill — army training
  22. land — to come down
  23. net — after costs
  24. sharp — exactly

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