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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. scale — size or range
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. capital — money
  8. file — a tool
  9. last — final
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bear — the animal
  12. file — a document
  13. roll — a list
  14. cold — not warm
  15. capital — a city
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. scale — in music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bear — the animal
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. last — finally
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. last — to go on

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