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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rush — hurry
  5. saw — the tool
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. deal — to handle
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. fall — to drop
  18. band — a music group
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. fall — to drop
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. fall — the season
  24. band — a ring

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