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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. net — after costs
  3. bound — obliged
  4. drill — a practice
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. file — a document
  7. drill — army training
  8. bound — tied together
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. drill — the tool
  13. file — a tool
  14. net — for catching
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. file — a line of people
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bound — certain
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. net — in sport
  23. pass — a permit
  24. row — to paddle

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