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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. toast — bread
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. file — a tool
  11. lean — thin
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. kid — child
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. file — a document
  19. lean — to bend
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. file — a line of people
  23. rush — hurry
  24. cold — an illness

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