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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. chip — to eat
  3. pit — a hole
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pound — a weight
  8. capital — money
  9. kid — child
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. march — the month
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chip — for betting
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. capital — a city
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. band — a ring
  19. pit — in a race
  20. march — the month
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. march — music
  24. chip — in a computer

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