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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: saw · sharp · fall · cap · hand · kid · spring · tube

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. kid — child
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cap — a hat
  5. spring — of water
  6. kid — to tease
  7. sharp — clever
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — in cards
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spring — a coil
  15. fall — the season
  16. cap — of ice
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. hand — help
  19. tube — a container
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. spring — the season
  23. tube — the underground
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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