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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pitch — completely
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. branch — a division
  5. spell — letters
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. hand — help
  8. chest — of your body
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. rock — music
  12. spell — a short time
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. chest — of your body
  15. kid — child
  16. rock — a stone
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. chest — a box
  19. hand — in cards
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. spell — magic

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