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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. swing — in golf
  4. row — to paddle
  5. present — there
  6. capital — money
  7. file — a tool
  8. cap — of ice
  9. file — a line of people
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cold — an illness
  13. game — wild animals
  14. present — the time now
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — not warm
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cap — a lid
  19. present — a gift
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cap — a hat
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. row — a line
  24. game — a match

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