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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. scale — in music
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. scale — size or range
  8. file — a document
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. fall — to drop
  15. file — a tool
  16. date — the fruit
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. toast — bread

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