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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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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 · wake · spell · file · row · land · kid · wave

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. file — a tool
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. land — ground
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. cold — not warm
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. wake — a trail
  16. row — to paddle
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. cold — an illness
  19. land — to come down
  20. row — a line
  21. land — a country
  22. file — a document
  23. spell — letters
  24. kid — child

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