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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: race · file · drill · hide · bat · wind · kid · stick

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. kid — to tease
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. race — a contest
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. drill — army training
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. drill — the tool
  16. race — humankind
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wind — moving air
  19. race — the arms race
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. drill — a practice
  23. kid — child
  24. wind — to turn a key

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