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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 looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. bass — low music
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. file — a document
  7. kid — to tease
  8. capital — a city
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. capital — money
  11. march — the month
  12. bulb — for light
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bat — the animal
  15. file — a line of people
  16. march — music
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. kid — child
  20. file — a tool
  21. bass — the fish
  22. march — the month
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bat — in an idiom

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