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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — child
  3. cap — a hat
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. sharp — clever
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cap — of ice
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. cap — a lid
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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