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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: clip · jam · kid · court · fall · straw · bulb · pit

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — for light
  4. fall — the season
  5. court — of law
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — to tease
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. kid — child
  10. pit — in a race
  11. fall — to drop
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. court — of a king
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pit — a hole
  23. court — for sport
  24. straw — dry grass

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