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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rash · net · content · cell · bulb · kid · face · tear

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. He was locked up in 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. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — for light
  4. face — to confront
  5. net — for catching
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. rash — hasty
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — happy
  13. cell — a phone
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — part of the head
  16. cell — in biology
  17. tear — from crying
  18. kid — child
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. rash — a series
  24. cell — in a prison

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