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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: deal · pop · root · chest · court · kid · rule · hide

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. court — for sport
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. pop — to visit
  6. root — of a plant
  7. root — of a word
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. chest — of your body
  10. deal — to handle
  11. root — the cause
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chest — of your body
  14. court — of a king
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — soda
  17. rule — government
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. chest — a box
  22. court — of law
  23. kid — to tease
  24. rule — a law

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