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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. net — after costs
  6. file — a line of people
  7. march — music
  8. net — in sport
  9. file — a tool
  10. fall — to drop
  11. can — to be able to
  12. mine — for digging
  13. fall — the season
  14. cold — an illness
  15. net — for catching
  16. can — a tin
  17. cold — not warm
  18. can — a tin
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. file — a document
  21. march — the month
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — the underground
  24. march — the month

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