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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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. scale — size or range
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. ball — a great time
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. ball — a dance
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. scale — in music
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. cold — an illness
  19. file — a document
  20. lie — to recline
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rush — hurry

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