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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — in a road
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. bat — the animal
  9. snap — to click
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. tube — a container
  14. foot — a measure
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. tube — the underground
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. dip — to sink
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. kid — child

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