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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 120 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: snap · hand · kid · cap · land · perch · pop · trunk

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cap — a hat
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. pop — to visit
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. perch — the fish
  8. kid — to tease
  9. hand — in cards
  10. snap — to click
  11. pop — music
  12. land — a country
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. land — to come down
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pop — soda
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cap — of ice
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cap — a lid
  24. land — ground

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