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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. squash — to crush
  3. file — a document
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. fall — the season
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. snap — to click
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. file — a tool
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kid — child
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. kid — to tease
  19. file — a line of people
  20. cold — an illness
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. squash — the sport
  23. fall — to drop
  24. mouse — the animal

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