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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. scale — size or range
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — for dancing
  5. drill — a practice
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mine — for digging
  9. file — a document
  10. scale — in music
  11. drill — army training
  12. club — a group
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. file — a tool
  17. drill — the tool
  18. snap — to snap out of it

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