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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 ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kid — child
  4. file — a tool
  5. shower — to wash
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. file — a line of people
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mate — a partner
  14. shower — rain
  15. foot — a measure
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bore — to drill
  19. file — a document
  20. stand — to bear
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mate — to breed
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. kick — in football

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