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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. kid — to tease
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. content — the amount
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. kid — child
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. pit — in a race
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — a hole
  20. scale — size or range
  21. march — music
  22. content — happy
  23. clip — a video
  24. scale — in music

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