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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 124 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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. file — a document
  3. rule — government
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. prune — to trim
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. hand — help
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. rule — a law
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — the underground
  14. file — a tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. club — for golf
  18. tube — a container
  19. club — a group
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. file — a line of people
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rule — to rule out

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