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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 120 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. cap — a lid
  5. file — a document
  6. chest — a box
  7. kid — child
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. ball — a dance
  10. ball — a great time
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. file — a tool
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. cap — a hat
  20. wax — to grow
  21. dip — to sink
  22. chest — of your body
  23. file — a line of people
  24. chest — of your body

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