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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 120 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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. present — there
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mate — to breed
  6. dip — to sink
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. pound — a weight
  11. mate — a partner
  12. tear — to rip
  13. root — the cause
  14. root — of a plant
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. present — the time now
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mate — a friend
  19. present — a gift
  20. tear — from crying
  21. root — of a word
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. kid — to tease
  24. wind — to turn a key

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