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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fall — the season
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a line of people
  8. kid — child
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. file — a tool
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bulb — for light
  13. tube — a container
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. scale — size or range
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fall — to drop
  19. tube — the underground
  20. scale — in music
  21. bulb — for light
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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