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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. club — for golf
  4. bass — low music
  5. clip — a video
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. club — for dancing
  10. capital — money
  11. clip — to cut
  12. capital — a city
  13. kid — child
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. club — a group
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — in a road
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bass — the fish
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. kid — to tease
  24. land — a country

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