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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  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. row — a line
  2. kid — child
  3. saw — the tool
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. kid — to tease
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. saw — the tool
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cell — in biology
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. wind — moving air
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  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