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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: patient · row · kid · craft · swing · dip · face · file

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. face — part of the head
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. kid — to tease
  5. file — a document
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. dip — to sink
  8. face — to confront
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. swing — in golf
  14. kid — child
  15. face — to point toward
  16. row — to paddle
  17. swing — music
  18. row — a line
  19. file — a tool
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. craft — a skill
  22. swing — to play on
  23. file — a line of people
  24. craft — a handicraft

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