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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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. club — a group
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. degree — temperature
  6. saw — the tool
  7. fall — to drop
  8. file — a tool
  9. fall — the season
  10. file — a line of people
  11. last — to go on
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. club — for golf
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. degree — an amount
  18. perch — the fish
  19. file — a document
  20. bat — the animal
  21. fall — to drop
  22. club — for dancing
  23. last — finally
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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