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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. kid — to tease
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. kid — child
  5. mark — a grade
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bulb — for light
  10. mark — a trace
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. snap — to click
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — not warm
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. degree — temperature
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. degree — an amount
  23. cold — an illness
  24. vault — a safe

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