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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: cold · hide · row · season · fork · kid · leaves · swing

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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 — in a road
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. swing — to play on
  5. cold — not warm
  6. kid — to tease
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — of the year
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. swing — music
  13. cold — an illness
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. kid — child
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. season — in sport
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — a line
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. row — to paddle
  24. leaves — of a tree

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