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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. field — farmland
  3. cap — a hat
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cap — a lid
  10. field — for sport
  11. kid — to tease
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. tear — to rip
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. field — a subject
  16. pound — a weight
  17. can — a tin
  18. can — to be able to
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kid — child
  21. can — a tin
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fan — a supporter

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