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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. cold — not warm
  3. file — a document
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. drill — a practice
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. fall — the season
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — to paddle
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rock — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. file — a tool
  16. fall — to drop
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. cold — an illness
  19. row — a line
  20. fall — to drop
  21. foot — a measure
  22. rock — a stone
  23. drill — army training
  24. foot — part of the body

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