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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. pop — music
  3. kid — child
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. pop — soda
  7. present — there
  8. capital — a city
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. rash — a series
  11. present — a gift
  12. land — to come down
  13. rash — hasty
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. pop — to visit
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. kid — to tease
  18. land — a country
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. land — ground
  23. mine — for digging
  24. capital — money

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