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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 116 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: club · row · saw · file · wound · snap · hide · kid

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. row — to paddle
  4. club — for dancing
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. file — a document
  14. kid — to tease
  15. file — a tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. snap — to click
  19. row — a line
  20. club — for golf
  21. file — a line of people
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. kid — child
  24. club — a group

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