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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: land · net · rash · kid · bat · bear · board · cap

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. land — to come down
  4. board — to get on
  5. cap — a hat
  6. net — for catching
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. net — after costs
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cap — a lid
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — hasty
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. net — in sport
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cap — of ice
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. kid — child
  22. board — a committee
  23. land — a country
  24. bat — for baseball

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