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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 116 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. clip — a video
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. kid — child
  6. swing — in golf
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. swing — music
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. ground — crushed
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — a position
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. pit — in a race
  21. clip — for paper
  22. swing — to play on
  23. pit — a hole
  24. tube — a container

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