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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. pop — music
  4. last — final
  5. last — to go on
  6. pop — to visit
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. kid — child
  15. land — a country
  16. land — ground
  17. pop — soda
  18. land — to come down
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. last — finally
  23. net — in sport
  24. wave — with your hand

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