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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. tube — a container
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. roll — a cake
  5. club — for dancing
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — child
  10. club — a group
  11. club — for golf
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. tube — the underground
  17. roll — a list
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. wind — moving air
  21. snap — to click
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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