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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 116 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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rock — music
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fall — to drop
  5. file — a line of people
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. fall — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. land — a country
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. file — a document
  13. spring — of water
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kid — child
  18. file — a tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. land — to come down
  21. rock — a stone
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. spring — the season
  24. patient — a sick person

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