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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. root — of a word
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. kid — child
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. sharp — clever
  11. snap — to click
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. file — a tool
  15. kid — to tease
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. file — a document
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. root — of a plant
  20. game — a match
  21. pass — a permit
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. file — a line of people
  24. root — the cause

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