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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. kid — to tease
  5. root — the cause
  6. perch — the fish
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. root — of a plant
  9. kid — child
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. game — a match
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. shower — to wash
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. shower — rain
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. game — wild animals
  24. root — of a word

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