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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 116 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. file — a tool
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — music
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. firm — decided
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. firm — a company
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pop — soda
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. file — a document
  16. perch — the fish
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cold — an illness
  20. firm — steady
  21. season — of the year
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  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