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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rest — a break
  4. shower — to wash
  5. chest — a box
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pit — in a race
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chest — of your body
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pit — a hole
  16. shower — rain
  17. rest — what's left
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. file — a tool
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bowl — a dish

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