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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — a hat
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. cap — a lid
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. key — the most important part
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — a country
  12. key — for a lock
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. land — ground
  17. kid — child
  18. mine — for digging
  19. cap — of ice
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. key — in music
  24. wake — before a funeral

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