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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cap — of ice
  3. tube — the underground
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. swing — to play on
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. swing — in golf
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. row — a line
  11. cap — a lid
  12. race — the arms race
  13. lie — to recline
  14. race — a contest
  15. kid — to tease
  16. hand — help
  17. swing — music
  18. race — humankind
  19. tube — a container
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cap — a hat

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