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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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. straw — dry grass
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. drill — army training
  7. wax — to grow
  8. bulb — for light
  9. kid — child
  10. suit — clothes
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cold — an illness
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. face — to point toward
  17. drill — a practice
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. suit — to fit
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to confront
  24. suit — in cards

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