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

Word bank: wave · file · cold · tear · patient · mouse · hide · pound

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. tear — from crying
  4. file — a line of people
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. file — a document
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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