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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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Word bank
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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: march · bound · root · saw · mouse · kid · cold · ground

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. march — the month
  5. bound — obliged
  6. cold — not warm
  7. kid — to tease
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. root — the cause
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. root — of a word
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — a position
  15. kid — child
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. ground — crushed
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bound — tied together
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bound — certain
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. root — of a plant
  24. cold — an illness

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