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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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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. band — a music group
  6. toast — bread
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. file — a document
  11. kid — child
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. band — a ring
  14. kick — in football
  15. file — a tool
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — goods
  18. file — a line of people

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