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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: straw · safe · tear · file · kid · net · march · press

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. march — the month
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. press — to push
  5. kid — child
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. march — the month
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. march — music
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — a publisher
  13. kid — to tease
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. tear — from crying
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — after costs
  19. file — a line of people
  20. tear — from crying
  21. net — for catching
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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