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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. date — the fruit
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. spring — the season
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. swing — music
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. chair — a leader
  12. spring — a coil
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. band — a ring
  15. tube — a container
  16. spring — of water
  17. swing — to play on
  18. swing — in golf
  19. band — a music group
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. tube — the underground
  24. lash — an eyelash

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