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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. wound — an injury
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. fork — in a road
  10. bank — for money
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. wound — an injury
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — size or range
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bank — of a river
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. bank — for money
  24. scale — in music

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