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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kid — child
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. pound — a weight
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. land — ground
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. land — a country
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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