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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.

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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: straw · wake · cell · file · wound · kid · bore · pit

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wake — a trail
  4. bore — to tire
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pit — in a race
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. pit — a hole
  10. kid — to tease
  11. file — a document
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. kid — child
  17. bore — to drill
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. file — a line of people
  21. cell — a phone
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. file — a tool

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