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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. kid — child
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. game — wild animals
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. squash — the sport
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. rock — music
  14. rock — a stone
  15. squash — to crush
  16. game — a match
  17. pound — a weight
  18. foot — a measure
  19. shower — rain
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. mine — for digging
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. pound — for dogs

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