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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 124 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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rash — hasty
  5. land — to come down
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. rash — a series
  8. land — a country
  9. wind — moving air
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wind — moving air
  12. track — to keep track
  13. kid — child
  14. bulb — for light
  15. net — after costs
  16. track — a song
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. track — a path
  20. net — for catching
  21. bulb — for light
  22. land — ground
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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