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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. chest — a box
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. row — a line
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. spell — letters
  8. pound — a weight
  9. rule — government
  10. rule — a law
  11. spell — a short time
  12. chest — of your body
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kid — child
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. row — to paddle
  19. band — a music group
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. spell — magic
  22. band — a ring
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. deal — to handle

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