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

Word bank: tear · kid · jam · perch · wound · bulb · band · sharp

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bulb — for light
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. tear — to rip
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. sharp — clever
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — child
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. wound — an injury
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. band — a ring
  17. wound — an injury
  18. band — a music group
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. bulb — for light

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