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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: kid · game · pitch · craft · ground · mine · spring · fall

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. game — wild animals
  5. kid — to tease
  6. ground — the earth
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. game — a match
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — a skill
  14. fall — to drop
  15. spring — of water
  16. mine — for digging
  17. craft — boats
  18. kid — child
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. spring — a coil
  22. ground — a position
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. spring — the season

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