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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. scale — in music
  3. tube — the underground
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. roll — a list
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stock — goods
  9. roll — a cake
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. scale — size or range
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. file — a tool
  18. stock — shares
  19. tube — a container
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. file — a document
  22. ball — a great time
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tube — in a tire

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