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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. kid — to tease
  3. race — a contest
  4. present — the time now
  5. court — of a king
  6. kid — child
  7. bear — the animal
  8. present — a gift
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. file — a document
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. present — there
  15. bear — the animal
  16. ground — the earth
  17. race — humankind
  18. file — a line of people
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of law
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. ground — a position
  23. race — the arms race
  24. file — a tool

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