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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. current — electric
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cue — a hint
  5. current — happening now
  6. kick — in football
  7. net — in sport
  8. kid — child
  9. cue — a signal
  10. current — of water
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kid — to tease
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. net — for catching
  18. land — a country
  19. net — after costs
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. cue — for pool
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. land — to come down

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