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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. land — a country
  3. cue — a hint
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. snap — to click
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. land — ground
  8. hand — in cards
  9. kid — child
  10. hand — help
  11. rash — a series
  12. can — a tin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. land — to come down
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. kid — to tease
  17. spring — a coil
  18. can — to be able to
  19. spring — of water
  20. cue — a signal
  21. can — a tin
  22. spring — the season
  23. cue — for pool
  24. rash — on the skin

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