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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. wind — moving air
  4. present — there
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. saw — the tool
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pop — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — a break
  19. saw — the tool
  20. present — the time now
  21. pop — soda
  22. file — a document
  23. date — the fruit
  24. pop — to visit

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