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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  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. ball — a great time
  2. pop — to visit
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pop — soda
  6. club — for dancing
  7. land — ground
  8. kid — child
  9. land — to come down
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. club — a group
  13. pop — music
  14. mate — a friend
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. mate — a partner
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mate — to breed
  20. club — for golf
  21. land — a country
  22. ball — a dance
  23. chip — for betting
  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