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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. land — a country
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. land — ground
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. clip — a video
  10. kid — child
  11. clip — to cut
  12. kid — to tease
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. clip — for paper
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. track — to keep track
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. dip — to sink
  20. bat — the animal
  21. land — to come down
  22. track — a song
  23. track — a path
  24. bat — for baseball

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