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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. land — to come down
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pit — a hole
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. land — ground
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. kid — child
  12. club — for golf
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. club — a group
  18. club — for dancing
  19. pound — a weight
  20. land — a country
  21. snap — to click
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. pit — in a race
  24. coach — a trainer

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