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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · fork · kick · press · mine · scale

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. scale — in music
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. mine — for digging
  11. scale — size or range
  12. press — to push
  13. fork — in a road
  14. kick — in football
  15. press — a publisher
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. press — newspapers
  18. fork — to eat with

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