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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. spring — of water
  3. chest — of your body
  4. prune — to trim
  5. shower — to wash
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chest — a box
  8. fine — all right
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. can — to be able to
  11. can — a tin
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chest — of your body
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. can — a tin
  16. prune — to trim
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a line of people
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. spring — a coil
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. spring — the season
  23. fine — high quality
  24. shower — rain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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