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

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. roll — a cake
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. clip — a video
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. clip — to cut
  8. scale — in music
  9. mine — for digging
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. clip — for paper
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. craft — boats
  19. roll — a list
  20. craft — a skill
  21. scale — size or range
  22. kid — to tease
  23. race — the arms race
  24. kid — child

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