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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 116 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. fall — to drop
  3. land — to come down
  4. kid — child
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. wind — moving air
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. land — ground
  9. spell — a short time
  10. fall — the season
  11. wind — moving air
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. land — a country
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pop — music
  17. pop — soda
  18. spell — magic
  19. branch — a division
  20. spell — letters
  21. kid — to tease
  22. pop — to visit
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. branch — of a bank

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