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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. file — a document
  5. kid — to tease
  6. can — a tin
  7. file — a tool
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fall — the season
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fall — to drop
  12. row — a line
  13. can — a tin
  14. tear — to rip
  15. craft — a skill
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. kid — child
  19. file — a line of people
  20. tear — from crying
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. row — to paddle
  23. craft — boats
  24. fall — to drop

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