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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. wound — an injury
  5. kid — to tease
  6. tube — a container
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. ball — a dance
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bass — the fish
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. tube — the underground
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stand — to bear
  16. bass — low music
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. kid — child
  24. ball — a great time

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