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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — to tease
  3. row — a line
  4. mug — a face
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. mug — to rob
  7. row — to paddle
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. mug — a cup
  10. rest — what's left
  11. prune — to trim
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. degree — from a university
  18. land — to come down
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rest — a break
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. kid — child
  23. rest — what's left
  24. degree — an amount

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