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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. file — a document
  3. drill — the tool
  4. file — a line of people
  5. net — after costs
  6. file — a tool
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. cold — not warm
  9. drill — army training
  10. spring — a coil
  11. net — in sport
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cue — a signal
  14. spring — of water
  15. cue — a hint
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cue — for pool
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. drill — a practice
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. spring — the season

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