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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. pitch — completely
  5. file — a document
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. drill — a practice
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. drill — the tool
  12. file — a tool
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. kid — child
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. file — a line of people
  19. drill — army training
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. kid — to tease
  24. hide — animal skin

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