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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 116 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. kid — child
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. root — of a word
  5. object — a thing
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. hand — help
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. hand — in cards
  11. object — to protest
  12. bulb — for light
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bulb — for light
  16. root — the cause
  17. pit — in a race
  18. object — an aim
  19. pit — a hole
  20. mine — for digging
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. root — of a plant

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