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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. kid — to tease
  6. hand — help
  7. staff — employees
  8. hand — in cards
  9. land — ground
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fine — all right
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. land — a country
  16. land — to come down
  17. staff — a stick
  18. bat — the animal
  19. fine — high quality
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. staff — employees
  24. ruler — a monarch

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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