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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  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 — child
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. roll — a cake
  4. ground — crushed
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. toast — bread
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. bass — low music
  13. ground — a position
  14. shower — rain
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. bass — the fish
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. ground — the earth
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. roll — a list
  22. shower — to wash
  23. jam — a tight spot
  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