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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 120 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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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. fall — to drop
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. scale — in music
  6. spell — magic
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. fall — to drop
  9. spell — letters
  10. land — to come down
  11. fall — the season
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. land — a country
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. scale — size or range
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. game — a match
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. land — ground
  20. game — wild animals
  21. spell — a short time
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. calf — a young animal

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