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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. bulb — for light
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fall — to drop
  8. kid — to tease
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. fall — to drop
  14. mate — a partner
  15. chip — for betting
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chip — to eat
  18. kid — child
  19. bulb — for light
  20. fall — the season
  21. wake — a trail
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bat — in an idiom

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