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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: scale · saw · ball · sharp · swing · mine · kid · roll

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. roll — a cake
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. mine — for digging
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. swing — to play on
  12. ball — a great time
  13. swing — music
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. kid — to tease
  17. ball — a dance
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. roll — a list
  20. swing — in golf
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. sharp — clever
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. saw — the tool

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