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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. land — a country
  5. drill — army training
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. kid — child
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. drill — a practice
  11. march — the month
  12. hand — help
  13. pit — in a race
  14. drill — the tool
  15. kid — to tease
  16. march — music
  17. land — ground
  18. land — to come down
  19. march — the month
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. pit — a hole

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