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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. sharp — clever
  6. tear — from crying
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. tear — from crying
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. ball — a great time
  17. tear — to rip
  18. snap — to click
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. game — wild animals
  24. ball — a dance

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