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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — child
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. cap — a lid
  7. kid — to tease
  8. ball — a great time
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cap — a hat
  11. clip — a video
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bass — low music
  14. clip — for paper
  15. cap — of ice
  16. bass — the fish
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. drill — the tool
  19. rest — a break
  20. clip — to cut
  21. drill — army training
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — what's left
  24. mine — an explosive

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