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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. game — a match
  5. root — of a plant
  6. root — the cause
  7. root — of a word
  8. pop — to visit
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. kid — to tease
  12. chip — to eat
  13. fall — the season
  14. bat — the animal
  15. kid — child
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. fall — to drop
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. pop — music
  20. chip — for betting
  21. pop — soda
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bat — in an idiom

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