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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. kid — to tease
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bound — tied together
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. kid — child
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bound — certain
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bound — obliged
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. chest — of your body
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. date — the fruit
  23. chest — a box
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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