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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. kid — child
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. net — for catching
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. deal — to handle
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. season — in sport
  20. chair — a leader
  21. net — after costs
  22. season — of the year
  23. net — in sport
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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