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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. perch — the fish
  4. plane — a tool
  5. march — music
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. cold — not warm
  8. drill — a practice
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. hand — help
  11. march — the month
  12. file — a document
  13. lie — to recline
  14. file — a line of people
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. drill — army training
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. march — the month
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — the tool
  23. hand — in cards
  24. lie — an untruth

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