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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. foot — a measure
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. capital — money
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. capital — a city
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. cold — an illness

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