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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. squash — the sport
  4. craft — boats
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — music
  7. kid — to tease
  8. ground — a position
  9. pop — to visit
  10. kid — child
  11. ground — the earth
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a tool
  14. ground — crushed
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. squash — to crush
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. craft — a skill
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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