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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: shower · file · row · kid · fork · sharp · firm · cue

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. file — a tool
  5. cue — for pool
  6. firm — a company
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. firm — steady
  9. file — a line of people
  10. firm — decided
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cue — a hint
  16. shower — to wash
  17. kid — child
  18. shower — rain
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. cue — a signal
  21. fork — in a road
  22. file — a document
  23. kid — to tease
  24. sharp — clever

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