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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. track — a song
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cue — a hint
  6. cue — a signal
  7. track — to keep track
  8. shower — rain
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. branch — a division
  11. track — a path
  12. pound — a weight
  13. land — ground
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. shower — to wash
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. land — a country
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. cue — for pool
  21. kid — to tease
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. land — to come down

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