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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. band — a ring
  3. ground — crushed
  4. chest — of your body
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. kid — to tease
  8. land — to come down
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. tube — the underground
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. land — ground
  16. kid — child
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ground — the earth
  19. tube — a container
  20. ground — a position
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kick — in football
  23. chest — a box
  24. band — a music group

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