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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · tear · deal · file · perch · fan

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. tear — to rip
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. file — a tool
  7. deal — to handle
  8. kid — child
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. tear — from crying
  11. perch — the fish
  12. tear — from crying
  13. file — a line of people
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. file — a document
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. kid — to tease

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