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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: kid · sharp · coach · row · shower · file · land · spell

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. sharp — clever
  3. land — to come down
  4. row — to paddle
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. file — a tool
  8. land — a country
  9. row — a line
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. shower — rain
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. file — a line of people
  15. spell — letters
  16. shower — to wash
  17. land — ground
  18. kid — to tease
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. spell — magic
  22. kid — child
  23. spell — a short time
  24. file — a document

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