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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. file — a document
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. face — part of the head
  6. kid — child
  7. vault — a safe
  8. capital — money
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. file — a tool
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — to point toward
  19. capital — a city
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — to come from
  23. file — a line of people
  24. kid — to tease

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