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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. scale — size or range
  3. rash — a series
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. kid — to tease
  6. snap — to click
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. band — a music group
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. charge — in control
  12. scale — in music
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. hand — help
  15. band — a ring
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. charge — electricity
  18. charge — a price
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. rash — hasty
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. rash — on the skin

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