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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — the animal
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. roll — a cake
  5. roll — a list
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bore — to tire
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. plane — a tool
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. bear — the animal
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. file — a document
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. kid — child

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