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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. file — a line of people
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. drill — the tool
  6. shower — to wash
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — to get on
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. drill — a practice
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. file — a document
  15. shower — rain
  16. drill — army training
  17. cold — not warm
  18. deal — to handle
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. file — a tool
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fan — a supporter

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