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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: chair · deal · game · date · lean · drill · ground · kid

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. drill — army training
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. kid — to tease
  8. game — a match
  9. date — the fruit
  10. kid — child
  11. lean — thin
  12. ground — crushed
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. chair — a leader
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — to handle
  17. game — wild animals
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — the tool
  20. lean — to bend
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — a position

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