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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: kid · hand · bear · swing · fine · race · trunk · cap

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — high quality
  4. kid — child
  5. race — the arms race
  6. swing — music
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bear — the animal
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. race — humankind
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cap — a hat
  15. hand — help
  16. cap — of ice
  17. swing — to play on
  18. bear — the animal
  19. swing — in golf
  20. kid — to tease
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. race — a contest
  24. bear — to put up with

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