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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. roll — a cake
  3. rash — a series
  4. pound — a weight
  5. kid — child
  6. file — a document
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cap — a lid
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. roll — a list
  14. cap — a hat
  15. rash — hasty
  16. dip — to sink
  17. file — a tool
  18. row — a line
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. file — a line of people
  21. cap — of ice
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. row — to paddle

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