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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: cold · rush · hand · fork · firm · kid · temple · file

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. file — a line of people
  4. rush — hurry
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. kid — child
  8. hand — in cards
  9. fork — in a road
  10. kid — to tease
  11. file — a document
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. firm — a company
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. firm — steady
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. hand — help
  20. firm — decided
  21. cold — not warm
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. cold — an illness
  24. file — a tool

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