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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. wound — an injury
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. file — a document
  6. mine — for digging
  7. march — music
  8. file — a line of people
  9. wake — a trail
  10. march — the month
  11. wound — an injury
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. march — the month
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. saw — the tool
  22. file — a tool
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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