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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. press — to push
  5. tear — to rip
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. bulb — for light
  8. plane — a tool
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. clip — to cut
  15. tear — from crying
  16. press — newspapers
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. press — a publisher
  20. bulb — for light
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. arm — a part of something

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