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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 116 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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. last — final
  3. file — a tool
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. wind — moving air
  13. file — a line of people
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cap — of ice
  16. key — in music
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cap — a lid
  20. prune — to trim
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — the most important part
  23. cap — a hat
  24. file — a document

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