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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. spring — the season
  3. ground — a position
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. ground — crushed
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. kid — to tease
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wind — moving air
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wind — moving air
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ground — the earth
  24. leaves — to go away

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