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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. rush — hurry
  12. kid — to tease
  13. pop — soda
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. fork — in a road
  18. root — of a plant
  19. root — the cause
  20. root — of a word
  21. pop — to visit
  22. kid — child
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pop — 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