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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. sharp — clever
  5. bear — the animal
  6. kid — child
  7. court — of law
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bear — the animal
  10. kid — to tease
  11. capital — a city
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. court — for sport
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — a leader
  21. capital — money
  22. court — of a king
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. cold — not warm

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