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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. saw — the tool
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cold — not warm
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. stem — to come from
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. saw — the tool
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. hand — help
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pound — a weight
  18. file — a document
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bat — the animal
  24. stem — of a plant

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