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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. swing — to play on
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. swing — in golf
  9. capital — a city
  10. pound — a weight
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. mark — a grade
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. sharp — clever
  16. kid — child
  17. capital — money
  18. swing — music

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