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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. kid — child
  5. last — to go on
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. can — a tin
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. last — final
  10. hand — help
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chip — for betting
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. can — to be able to
  15. last — finally
  16. hand — in cards
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. scale — size or range
  20. can — a tin
  21. chip — to eat
  22. land — a country
  23. kid — to tease
  24. scale — in music

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