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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. kid — child
  5. fork — in a road
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. key — the most important part
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. clip — to cut
  10. key — for a lock
  11. key — in music
  12. tube — the underground
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. clip — for paper
  15. net — after costs
  16. tube — a container
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. clip — a video
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bat — the animal

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