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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 · bulb · kid · clip · tear · drill · fine · vault

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. drill — the tool
  3. kid — child
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. clip — a video
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — for light
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. cap — a hat
  11. tear — from crying
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. drill — army training
  14. kid — to tease
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cap — of ice
  17. vault — a safe
  18. tear — to rip
  19. cap — a lid
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. clip — to cut
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. drill — a practice

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