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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. drill — army training
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. file — a tool
  6. stock — shares
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. stock — goods
  10. drill — a practice
  11. present — a gift
  12. file — a document
  13. rash — a series
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. present — there
  17. rash — hasty
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. present — the time now
  21. drill — the tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. cold — not warm

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