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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bound — obliged
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. land — to come down
  6. club — for golf
  7. kid — to tease
  8. land — a country
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. present — a gift
  11. date — the fruit
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. present — the time now
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. present — there
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. club — a group
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. land — ground
  24. stock — a soup base

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