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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. snap — to click
  5. kid — to tease
  6. season — in sport
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. foot — a measure
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. perch — the fish
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. kid — child
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. season — of the year
  21. rush — hurry
  22. tube — the underground
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. tube — a container

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