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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 · bulb · degree · chip · hand · hide · fall · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. hand — help
  3. rash — hasty
  4. fall — the season
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. chip — for betting
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bulb — for light
  10. kid — child
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. bulb — for light
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fall — to drop
  15. chip — to eat
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. fall — to drop
  19. degree — from a university
  20. rash — a series
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. hand — in cards
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. chip — in a computer

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