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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 120 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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. file — a document
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. file — a line of people
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. bear — the animal
  11. swing — to play on
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. scale — size or range
  17. swing — music
  18. band — a music group
  19. scale — in music
  20. band — a ring
  21. lie — to recline
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cell — a phone
  24. scale — for weighing

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