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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. kid — child
  5. file — a document
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — magic
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spell — a short time
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — a permit
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pound — a weight
  18. file — a line of people
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. file — a tool
  24. pound — for dogs

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