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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wound — an injury
  3. row — to paddle
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. kid — child
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. last — finally
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. last — final
  14. kid — to tease
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. row — a line
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. last — to go on
  21. wound — an injury
  22. perch — the fish
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bat — in an idiom

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