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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. kid — to tease
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. kid — child
  7. cue — for pool
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. land — to come down
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. degree — from a university
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. land — a country
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. rush — hurry
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. land — ground
  20. degree — temperature
  21. cue — a signal
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. trunk — of a tree

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