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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mug · race · roll · kid · hand · club · clip · coach

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  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 — child
  2. clip — a video
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. club — for golf
  5. roll — a list
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — humankind
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. mug — a cup
  13. race — the arms race
  14. hand — help
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. club — for dancing
  17. roll — a cake
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. hand — in cards
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mug — a face
  22. club — a group
  23. coach — a trainer
  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