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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. club — for dancing
  5. row — a line
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. row — to paddle
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. prune — to trim
  13. net — in sport
  14. dip — to sink
  15. club — for golf
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. clip — for paper
  19. club — a group
  20. prune — to trim
  21. clip — to cut
  22. kid — child
  23. clip — a video
  24. kid — to tease

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