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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. file — a tool
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. ball — a dance
  6. kid — child
  7. file — a line of people
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. perch — the fish
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — for digging
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a great time
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. lash — to lash out

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