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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. kid — child
  3. toast — bread
  4. ground — a position
  5. land — ground
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. chest — of your body
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ground — the earth
  15. degree — an amount
  16. deal — to handle
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. degree — from a university
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. deal — a big deal

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