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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. kid — to tease
  4. tear — from crying
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. snap — to click
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. rash — hasty
  9. club — a group
  10. rash — a series
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. branch — a division
  13. kid — child
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. club — for golf
  22. tear — to rip
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. club — for dancing

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