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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: suit · file · race · hand · row · date · hide · bat

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. row — to paddle
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. row — a line
  9. suit — clothes
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bat — the animal
  13. file — a line of people
  14. suit — in cards
  15. date — the fruit
  16. race — humankind
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. suit — to fit
  19. hand — in cards
  20. file — a document
  21. race — a contest
  22. file — a tool
  23. hand — help
  24. race — the arms race

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