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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. field — a subject
  7. file — a document
  8. net — in sport
  9. bass — the fish
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. bass — low music
  16. field — for sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. file — a line of people
  19. net — for catching
  20. field — farmland
  21. cold — an illness
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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