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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mine — for digging
  5. clip — for paper
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stock — goods
  13. sharp — clever
  14. kid — child
  15. band — a music group
  16. stock — shares
  17. rush — hurry
  18. pitch — completely
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. band — a ring
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. clip — a video
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. mine — belonging to me

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