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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. ground — a position
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. file — a tool
  5. band — a music group
  6. wind — moving air
  7. shower — to wash
  8. band — a ring
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ground — crushed
  11. kid — child
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wound — an injury
  14. file — a document
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. shower — rain
  19. kid — to tease
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. fork — in a road

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