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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. kid — child
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. wound — an injury
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. kid — to tease
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — a container
  19. chair — a leader
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. squash — the sport

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