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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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Word bank
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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. file — a line of people
  6. kid — child
  7. row — to paddle
  8. file — a tool
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. file — a document
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cold — an illness

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