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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. face — part of the head
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. net — in sport
  5. shower — rain
  6. ground — the earth
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. kid — child
  9. ground — a position
  10. net — after costs
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. ground — crushed
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. date — the fruit
  20. face — to point toward
  21. mine — for digging
  22. net — for catching
  23. face — to confront
  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