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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. wake — a trail
  3. cap — of ice
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cap — a lid
  9. file — a tool
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. swing — in golf
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. swing — music
  20. land — a country
  21. cap — a hat
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. file — a document

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