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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. swing — music
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. track — to keep track
  10. pound — a weight
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. game — wild animals
  15. swing — in golf
  16. bat — the animal
  17. game — a match
  18. track — a song
  19. swing — to play on
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. kid — to tease
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. pound — to hit hard

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