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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. last — finally
  3. land — a country
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. suit — clothes
  7. land — to come down
  8. last — to go on
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. land — ground
  11. suit — to fit
  12. kid — to tease
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. hand — help
  15. last — final
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. kid — child
  19. dip — to sink
  20. clip — a video
  21. suit — in cards
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. calf — of the leg

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