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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. tube — the underground
  3. chest — of your body
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. kid — child
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. chest — of your body
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. wake — a trail
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. land — ground
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. tube — a container
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — the fruit
  23. pitch — completely
  24. chest — a box

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