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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 120 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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. pound — a weight
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. drill — army training
  8. content — happy
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. swing — in golf
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. swing — music
  14. file — a tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. drill — the tool
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. chest — of your body
  20. fork — in a road
  21. swing — to play on
  22. chest — a box
  23. file — a line of people
  24. content — the amount

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