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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 116 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: mate · hand · race · fork · pitcher · rest · kid · deal

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rest — a break
  3. rest — what's left
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rest — what's left
  6. deal — to handle
  7. race — humankind
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. race — the arms race
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. mate — a partner
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. kid — child
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. mate — a friend
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. mate — to breed
  20. hand — help
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. race — a contest
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. fork — in a road

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