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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. spring — of water
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. file — a line of people
  6. spring — a coil
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. press — newspapers
  13. chest — of your body
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. file — a tool
  17. press — a publisher
  18. plane — a tool
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. press — to push
  22. foot — a measure
  23. spring — the season
  24. foot — the bottom

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