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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: bass · mark · cap · clip · mate · cold · kid · bulb

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. kid — child
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mark — a grade
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. bass — low music
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — a hat
  9. mate — a partner
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mate — to breed
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bass — the fish
  15. mark — a trace
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bulb — for light
  24. clip — a video

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