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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 120 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: bat · wave · kid · ruler · file · wind

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. file — a line of people
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. kid — child
  7. file — a document
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. file — a tool
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. ruler — for measuring

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