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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pop — soda
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. pop — to visit
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. chest — a box
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pop — music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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