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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. last — to go on
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a document
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. file — a line of people
  7. last — final
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. last — finally
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. hand — in cards
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. tube — a container
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. tube — the underground
  17. cell — in biology
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. foot — a measure
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wound — an injury

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