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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. land — ground
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. suit — clothes
  6. bound — certain
  7. fall — the season
  8. bound — tied together
  9. land — to come down
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. cold — not warm
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. file — a document
  16. season — of the year
  17. fall — to drop
  18. land — a country
  19. file — a line of people
  20. suit — in cards
  21. season — in sport
  22. bound — obliged
  23. cold — an illness
  24. suit — to fit

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