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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. mine — for digging
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. file — a line of people
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. file — a tool
  8. snap — to click
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. file — a document
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wake — a trail
  24. racket — for tennis

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