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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. track — a path
  4. snap — to click
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rash — hasty
  7. land — ground
  8. rest — a break
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — a friend
  11. pop — to visit
  12. land — a country
  13. rest — what's left
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. land — to come down
  17. track — to keep track
  18. mate — to breed
  19. pop — soda
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. rash — a series
  23. track — a song
  24. pop — music

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