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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. drill — the tool
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. row — a line
  8. file — a document
  9. kid — to tease
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. kid — child
  12. row — to paddle
  13. drill — army training
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. file — a tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. file — a line of people
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. straw — a straw man

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