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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. mine — for digging
  3. file — a tool
  4. kick — in football
  5. file — a document
  6. tube — a container
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. shower — to wash
  9. root — the cause
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. shower — rain
  12. scale — size or range
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. root — of a word
  18. root — of a plant
  19. branch — a division
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. tube — the underground
  24. file — a line of people

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