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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pop — soda
  3. file — a line of people
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. file — a tool
  6. spring — a coil
  7. tube — a container
  8. perch — the fish
  9. root — of a word
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. pop — music
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. file — a document
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. spring — the season
  16. kid — to tease
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. pop — to visit
  19. tube — the underground
  20. vault — a safe
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — the cause
  23. spring — of water
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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