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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pit — in a race
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. game — a match
  5. saw — the tool
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. saw — the tool
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pit — a hole
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bulb — for light
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. band — a ring
  17. game — wild animals
  18. chest — of your body
  19. tear — to rip
  20. chest — a box
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — to tease
  23. tear — from crying
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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