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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: kid · row · pound · mate · file · perch · jam · board

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. kid — to tease
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. mate — a friend
  6. perch — the fish
  7. board — to get on
  8. file — a document
  9. board — a committee
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. file — a tool
  13. row — to paddle
  14. kid — child
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — a line
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pound — a weight
  19. file — a line of people
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. mate — to breed
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. jam — a tight spot

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