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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 116 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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. file — a document
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. sharp — clever
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. file — a line of people
  10. game — wild animals
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cap — a lid
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. game — a match
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cap — a hat

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