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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. swing — music
  3. kid — to tease
  4. swing — in golf
  5. clip — to cut
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. race — humankind
  10. kid — child
  11. clip — for paper
  12. march — the month
  13. race — the arms race
  14. march — music
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. march — the month
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. clip — a video
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. race — a contest
  24. swing — to play on

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