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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 120 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. kid — child
  5. pass — a permit
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. field — for sport
  8. shower — rain
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — a subject
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. clip — for paper
  14. kid — to tease
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. field — farmland
  19. capital — money
  20. shower — to wash
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — a big letter

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