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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chip — to eat
  3. drill — a practice
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. kid — child
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — to get on
  10. band — a music group
  11. chip — for betting
  12. drill — army training
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. drill — the tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. band — a ring
  21. pop — soda
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. nail — for a hammer

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