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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 120 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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. band — a ring
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. land — ground
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. fall — to drop
  8. can — to be able to
  9. can — a tin
  10. land — a country
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. can — a tin
  13. band — a music group
  14. kid — to tease
  15. fall — the season
  16. land — to come down
  17. rash — a series
  18. pit — in a race
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. fall — to drop
  24. rash — hasty

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