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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. land — to come down
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. kid — to tease
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. tube — the underground
  12. cold — not warm
  13. root — the cause
  14. tube — a container
  15. cold — an illness
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. craft — boats
  18. craft — a skill
  19. snap — to click
  20. root — of a word
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. root — of a plant
  24. craft — a handicraft

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