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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. spell — magic
  3. object — to protest
  4. object — an aim
  5. kid — child
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. spell — letters
  9. row — to paddle
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bore — to drill
  12. spell — a short time
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bore — to tire
  16. row — a line
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. kid — to tease
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. prune — to trim
  24. file — a line of people

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