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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rash · tear · net · game · kid · land

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. net — after costs
  3. game — a match
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. rash — hasty
  7. tear — from crying
  8. net — for catching
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — wild animals
  11. net — in sport
  12. land — a country
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. kid — child
  15. rash — a series
  16. tear — to rip
  17. kid — to tease
  18. game — a kind of play

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