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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. file — a tool
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — a container
  5. last — finally
  6. last — to go on
  7. spell — magic
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. swing — music
  11. file — a document
  12. wound — an injury
  13. last — final
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mine — for digging
  18. rash — a series
  19. rash — hasty
  20. spell — a short time
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. spell — letters

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