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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. tear — from crying
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. squash — the sport
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. shower — rain
  10. file — a document
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. kid — child
  13. tear — from crying
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kid — to tease
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. file — a tool
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. shower — to wash
  22. tear — to rip
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pass — a permit

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