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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. kid — child
  3. bank — for money
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. roll — a list
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bank — of a river
  12. degree — temperature
  13. kid — to tease
  14. hand — help
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. foot — a measure
  18. roll — a cake
  19. bank — for money
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cold — not warm
  22. degree — an amount
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. hand — in cards

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