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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bound — certain
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. present — a gift
  6. present — there
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. degree — temperature
  9. mate — a partner
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bound — tied together
  18. mine — for digging
  19. present — the time now
  20. degree — from a university
  21. kid — to tease
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. degree — an amount

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