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

Word bank: pound · cap · mate · straw · kid · land · swing · pitcher

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. land — to come down
  4. kid — child
  5. mate — a partner
  6. cap — a hat
  7. mate — to breed
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. land — a country
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. swing — music
  16. mate — a friend
  17. land — ground
  18. cap — of ice
  19. swing — to play on
  20. cap — a lid
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. swing — in golf
  23. straw — dry grass
  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