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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. track — a path
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. game — wild animals
  6. swing — music
  7. kid — to tease
  8. track — to keep track
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. swing — in golf
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cell — a phone
  14. game — a match
  15. race — humankind
  16. kid — child
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. race — a contest
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pound — a weight
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. swing — to play on

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