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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. pop — to visit
  5. chip — to eat
  6. spell — letters
  7. pop — music
  8. hand — in cards
  9. shower — rain
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. snap — to click
  12. shower — to wash
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spell — magic
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. chip — for betting
  17. pop — soda
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. kid — to tease
  22. spell — a short time
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. hand — help

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