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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 120 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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. cue — a hint
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bat — the animal
  8. kid — child
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spell — letters
  11. cue — for pool
  12. spell — a short time
  13. tube — a container
  14. cue — a signal
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spell — magic
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — rain
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bound — certain
  24. tube — the underground

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