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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. swing — to play on
  3. drill — army training
  4. drill — the tool
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. file — a line of people
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. file — a tool
  9. swing — in golf
  10. drill — a practice
  11. mate — a friend
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. mate — a partner
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. wound — an injury
  17. mate — to breed
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. bat — the animal
  21. swing — music
  22. file — a document
  23. track — to keep track
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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