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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. kid — to tease
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lie — to recline
  6. root — of a plant
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. kid — child
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cap — a hat
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. ground — the earth
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — crushed
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cap — a lid
  22. root — of a word
  23. root — the cause
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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