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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. hand — help
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. present — the time now
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. last — finally
  10. vault — a safe
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. fork — in a road
  15. dip — to sink
  16. last — final
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. last — to go on
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. present — there
  23. present — a gift
  24. hand — in cards

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