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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cell — in biology
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. ground — crushed
  8. mine — for digging
  9. band — a music group
  10. fine — high quality
  11. kid — child
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. fine — all right
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. game — a match
  18. ground — a position
  19. band — a ring
  20. ground — the earth
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rash — hasty
  24. cell — a phone

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