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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. file — a document
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. last — to go on
  6. rock — music
  7. game — a match
  8. bat — the animal
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kid — to tease
  12. squash — to crush
  13. shower — rain
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. rock — a stone
  18. last — finally
  19. last — final
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. squash — the sport
  24. shower — to wash

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