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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. drill — the tool
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a document
  5. drill — army training
  6. spell — letters
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — magic
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. file — a tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. game — a match

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