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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. land — ground
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — a group
  5. land — to come down
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cold — an illness
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. land — a country
  13. track — a song
  14. track — a path
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. cold — not warm
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kick — in football
  22. track — to keep track
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. club — for dancing

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