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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cue — a hint
  3. last — final
  4. bulb — for light
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cue — a signal
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. last — to go on
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cue — for pool
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. kid — child
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. bulb — for light
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. craft — boats
  23. last — finally
  24. craft — a skill

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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