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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rule — a law
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. game — a match
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bound — certain
  15. kid — to tease
  16. rule — government
  17. bound — tied together
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bound — obliged

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