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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. mark — a trace
  12. cold — an illness
  13. file — a tool
  14. band — a ring
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. cold — not warm
  20. perch — the fish
  21. file — a document
  22. mine — for digging
  23. band — a music group
  24. nail — for a hammer

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