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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 120 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. face — part of the head
  3. cap — a hat
  4. row — a line
  5. bulb — for light
  6. clip — a video
  7. cap — of ice
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. face — to confront
  10. row — to paddle
  11. clip — to cut
  12. tear — to rip
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cap — a lid
  15. clip — for paper
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bulb — for light
  18. mark — a grade
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. face — to point toward
  23. kid — child
  24. mark — a trace

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