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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: arm · scale · dip · hand · kid · prune · chair · mine

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. scale — in music
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. prune — to trim
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. hand — in cards
  15. kid — to tease
  16. dip — to sink
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. chair — a leader
  20. hand — help
  21. scale — size or range
  22. prune — to trim
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. scale — for weighing

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