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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mate — to breed
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. foot — a measure
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. bat — the animal
  11. land — ground
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. mate — a partner
  14. wax — to grow
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. land — a country
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. land — to come down
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. kid — child
  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