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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. kid — to tease
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. kid — child
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. mine — for digging
  12. file — a document
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. bat — the animal
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. bore — to drill
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bore — to tire
  21. chair — a leader
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wake — a trail

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