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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. scale — in music
  3. swing — music
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. game — wild animals
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. spring — the season
  9. swing — in golf
  10. scale — size or range
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. kid — to tease
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. chair — a leader
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. spring — of water
  19. swing — to play on
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — goods
  23. game — a match
  24. spring — a coil

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