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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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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. swing — in golf
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. kid — child
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. track — a song
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. swing — music
  14. craft — boats
  15. track — a path
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. charge — a price
  18. swing — to play on
  19. craft — a skill
  20. cell — in biology
  21. mine — for digging
  22. charge — in control
  23. charge — electricity
  24. cell — a phone

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