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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. hand — in cards
  3. land — to come down
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. hand — help
  11. kid — child
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. degree — temperature
  17. land — a country
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — a tin
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. kid — to tease
  22. degree — from a university
  23. land — ground
  24. bat — for baseball

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