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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. swing — to play on
  3. fine — high quality
  4. current — happening now
  5. file — a document
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kid — to tease
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. fine — all right
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. file — a tool
  15. current — electric
  16. current — of water
  17. tear — to rip
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. file — a line of people
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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