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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. current — happening now
  4. tear — from crying
  5. current — electric
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spring — a coil
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mine — for digging
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. spring — the season
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — tied together
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. current — of water
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bound — obliged
  20. spring — of water
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a city
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. kid — child

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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