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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. ball — a great time
  4. land — ground
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. land — a country
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tube — the underground
  11. kid — child
  12. tube — a container
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. kid — to tease
  16. land — to come down
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. ball — a dance
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cold — not warm
  24. trunk — of a tree

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