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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cold — an illness
  3. last — to go on
  4. file — a tool
  5. cap — of ice
  6. last — final
  7. rock — a stone
  8. rock — music
  9. saw — the tool
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. file — a line of people
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. file — a document
  14. last — finally
  15. fine — all right
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. cap — a lid
  20. fine — high quality
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cold — not warm
  23. saw — the tool
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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