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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: file · drill · straw · cold · craft · kid · present · suit

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. file — a document
  4. kid — to tease
  5. suit — in cards
  6. drill — the tool
  7. file — a tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. cold — an illness
  10. craft — boats
  11. file — a line of people
  12. present — the time now
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. suit — to fit
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. present — there
  19. craft — a skill
  20. suit — clothes
  21. drill — army training
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. present — a gift

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