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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 · ruler · fan · row · wave · hide · cold · craft

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. craft — a skill
  5. row — a line
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — boats
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. row — to paddle
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. cold — an illness
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. kid — to tease
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. fan — to cool the air

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