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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 chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. kid — to tease
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. track — a path
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cold — not warm
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. cold — an illness
  14. track — to keep track
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. snap — to click
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. foot — a measure
  22. track — a song
  23. bat — the animal
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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