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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'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. tube — the underground
  3. dip — to sink
  4. row — to paddle
  5. cold — not warm
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. file — a tool
  8. row — a line
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. firm — decided
  14. bear — the animal
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. kid — child
  18. firm — a company
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bear — the animal
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. tube — a container
  24. dip — a sauce

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