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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. hand — help
  3. club — for golf
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. bulb — for light
  6. race — humankind
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. club — a group
  9. march — the month
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. march — music
  12. hand — in cards
  13. march — the month
  14. race — a contest
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. club — for dancing
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. bulb — for light
  19. kid — child
  20. race — the arms race
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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