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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. swing — in golf
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. swing — music
  5. kid — child
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. file — a line of people
  9. capital — money
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. file — a document
  15. snap — to click
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. capital — a city
  19. land — ground
  20. kick — in football
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. file — a tool
  24. kid — to tease

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