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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. kid — to tease
  8. clip — to cut
  9. court — of law
  10. current — of water
  11. fall — the season
  12. pound — a weight
  13. fall — to drop
  14. current — electric
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. clip — a video
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. current — happening now
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. court — of a king
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. court — for sport
  24. kid — child

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