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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. rest — a break
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. board — a committee
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. game — wild animals
  12. band — a music group
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. sharp — clever
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. board — to get on
  18. rest — what's left
  19. file — a document
  20. band — a ring
  21. rest — what's left
  22. file — a line of people
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. game — a match

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