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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. scale — size or range
  5. race — a contest
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. rule — a law
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rule — government
  10. dip — to sink
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. race — humankind
  16. game — a match
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. game — wild animals
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. scale — in music
  23. race — the arms race
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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