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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. prune — to trim
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a tool
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. land — ground
  7. scale — in music
  8. land — a country
  9. band — a ring
  10. fine — high quality
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — to play on
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. scale — size or range
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. band — a music group
  20. land — to come down
  21. swing — music
  22. prune — to trim
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. file — a document

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