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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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Word bank
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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: cold · kid · squash · saw · fork · file · bore · rash

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bore — to drill
  3. cold — an illness
  4. squash — the sport
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. file — a tool
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rash — hasty
  12. kid — child
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. saw — the tool
  15. fork — in a road
  16. file — a document
  17. saw — the tool
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. bore — to tire
  20. squash — to crush
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rash — a series
  24. file — a line of people

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