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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: hide · straw · root · rush · march · tube · kid · file

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tube — the underground
  3. march — the month
  4. kid — child
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. rush — hurry
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. file — a document
  11. root — of a word
  12. tube — a container
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. root — of a plant
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a tool
  20. root — the cause
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. march — music

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