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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spell — a short time
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. wax — to grow
  18. spell — magic
  19. bat — the animal
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. capital — money
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. spell — letters

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