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

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. club — for dancing
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. kick — in football
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. stock — shares
  14. stock — goods
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. club — for golf
  17. wind — moving air
  18. club — a group

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