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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 120 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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cue — a hint
  3. file — a tool
  4. cue — a signal
  5. spell — a short time
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. track — a path
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. wind — moving air
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cue — for pool
  18. foot — a measure
  19. file — a document
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. spell — magic
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. spell — letters
  24. track — a song

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