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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. season — in sport
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. band — a music group
  9. bat — the animal
  10. file — a document
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. file — a tool
  13. rule — government
  14. saw — the tool
  15. band — a ring
  16. lean — to bend
  17. rule — a law
  18. file — a line of people
  19. lean — thin
  20. saw — the tool
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. season — of the year
  24. shower — to wash

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