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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. rush — hurry
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. tube — the underground
  6. hand — in cards
  7. file — a document
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mine — for digging
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — help
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. pit — in a race
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. file — a tool
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. tube — a container
  23. pit — a hole
  24. rush — a thrill

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