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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. club — for golf
  5. kid — to tease
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kid — child
  10. net — after costs
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — in sport
  13. bulb — for light
  14. club — for dancing
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. clip — a video
  18. club — a group
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. net — for catching
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bulb — for light

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