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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. kid — to tease
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. wound — an injury
  6. kid — child
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a match
  11. rock — a stone
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. wound — an injury
  14. deal — to handle
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. sharp — clever
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. chest — of your body
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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