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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. cold — an illness
  3. charge — in control
  4. saw — the tool
  5. charge — electricity
  6. file — a document
  7. prune — to trim
  8. land — to come down
  9. board — to get on
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — goods
  12. file — a tool
  13. land — ground
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. board — a committee
  16. prune — to trim
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. charge — a price
  19. cold — not warm
  20. land — a country
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. board — a flat piece

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