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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 120 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. kid — child
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. bound — certain
  6. bound — obliged
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. row — a line
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. row — to paddle
  20. stand — to bear
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. kid — to tease
  23. pound — a weight
  24. bound — tied together

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