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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bat — the animal
  4. file — a tool
  5. club — for golf
  6. drill — army training
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — there
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. drill — a practice
  11. club — for dancing
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. scale — size or range
  20. roll — a cake
  21. file — a document
  22. scale — in music
  23. drill — the tool
  24. club — a group

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