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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. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. dip — to sink
  4. present — a gift
  5. clip — to cut
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. present — the time now
  10. clip — for paper
  11. present — there
  12. file — a tool
  13. bulb — for light
  14. file — a document
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. file — a line of people
  17. kid — to tease
  18. spell — letters
  19. kid — child
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. spell — a short time
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. clip — a video
  24. spell — magic

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