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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: arm · kid · cold · rule · tube · mine · date · kick

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rule — government
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. cold — an illness
  7. date — the fruit
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. kick — in football
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. kid — child
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. mine — for digging
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. rule — a law
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. tube — the underground
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kid — to tease

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