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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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. snap — to click
  4. bulb — for light
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. bulb — for light
  7. file — a tool
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. kid — to tease
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. kid — child
  14. file — a document
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. file — a line of people
  18. patient — a sick person

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