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

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. row — to paddle
  5. mug — a face
  6. rest — a break
  7. row — a line
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. mug — to rob
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mug — a cup

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