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

Word bank: chip · rest · kid · mine · bat · degree · stand · fall

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rest — what's left
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. degree — an amount
  8. chip — to eat
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fall — to drop
  11. chip — for betting
  12. mine — for digging
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stand — to bear
  15. rest — what's left
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. rest — a break
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fall — the season
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. kid — child
  23. bat — the animal
  24. degree — from a university

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