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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pop — to visit
  3. land — a country
  4. land — ground
  5. file — a tool
  6. pop — music
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — soda
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. bat — the animal
  14. file — a line of people
  15. land — to come down
  16. squash — the sport
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. file — a document
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ruler — a monarch

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