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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. lean — thin
  3. land — a country
  4. root — the cause
  5. ball — a dance
  6. cell — in biology
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cell — a phone
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. land — ground
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. root — of a word
  15. root — of a plant
  16. rash — a series
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. kid — to tease
  21. lean — to bend
  22. ball — a great time
  23. land — to come down
  24. shower — rain

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