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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. scale — size or range
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. kid — to tease
  6. march — the month
  7. mine — for digging
  8. drill — army training
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. march — the month
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — goods
  18. march — music
  19. ball — a dance
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. drill — a practice
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. kid — child

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