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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. dip — to sink
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — of ice
  6. chest — of your body
  7. date — the fruit
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cap — a lid
  10. chest — a box
  11. cell — a phone
  12. saw — the tool
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. saw — the tool
  15. charge — electricity
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. charge — in control
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. cell — in biology
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. charge — a price
  24. dip — to dunk

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