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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. last — final
  3. file — a document
  4. cell — in biology
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cell — a phone
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. last — to go on
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. last — finally
  13. row — a line
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. row — to paddle
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. fork — in a road
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a tool
  21. wound — an injury
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. file — a line of people
  24. mine — for digging

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