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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. firm — decided
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. cold — not warm
  6. firm — a company
  7. cold — an illness
  8. scale — size or range
  9. land — a country
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. kid — child
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bat — the animal
  14. scale — in music
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. land — ground
  23. land — to come down
  24. firm — steady

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