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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: cold · prune · chair · hand · jam · kid · root · deal

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cold — not warm
  4. hand — help
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. root — of a word
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. chair — a leader
  10. kid — child
  11. root — of a plant
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. root — the cause
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. cold — an illness
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. deal — to handle
  23. prune — to trim
  24. hand — in cards

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