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

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. file — a tool
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. file — a document
  6. fall — to drop
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. kid — child
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. fall — to drop
  13. capital — money
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. fall — the season
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bay — to keep at bay

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