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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. kid — to tease
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. chip — to eat
  7. root — of a plant
  8. craft — a skill
  9. bank — of a river
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. craft — boats
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bank — for money
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. chip — for betting
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. hand — in cards
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bank — for money
  23. root — the cause
  24. hand — help

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