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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. foot — a measure
  3. kid — to tease
  4. race — humankind
  5. bound — obliged
  6. cell — a phone
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. race — a contest
  9. bark — to shout
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. root — of a plant
  13. kid — child
  14. race — the arms race
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cell — in biology
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. root — the cause
  21. bound — certain
  22. root — of a word
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. straw — dry grass

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