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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: cap · pit · bulb · kid · deal · net · chest · tear

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. net — after costs
  3. chest — of your body
  4. deal — to handle
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cap — a hat
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bulb — for light
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cap — a lid
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pit — in a race
  13. kid — to tease
  14. net — for catching
  15. chest — a box
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. cap — of ice
  19. kid — child
  20. tear — from crying
  21. net — in sport
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. bulb — for light
  24. deal — a big deal

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