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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. land — ground
  3. file — a tool
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. fine — high quality
  6. land — a country
  7. hand — help
  8. lean — to bend
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. file — a document
  13. lean — thin
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. file — a line of people
  19. land — to come down
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. row — a line
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. row — to paddle
  24. trunk — of a car

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