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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: chair · rush · file · kid · present · nail · wind · tube

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. tube — the underground
  3. present — a gift
  4. rush — hurry
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. file — a line of people
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. kid — child
  10. chair — a leader
  11. wind — moving air
  12. tube — a container
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. present — there
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. present — the time now
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. file — a document
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — to tease
  23. nail — on a finger
  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