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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 116 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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. file — a line of people
  4. face — part of the head
  5. pop — to visit
  6. rule — a law
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pop — soda
  10. rule — government
  11. row — a line
  12. face — to confront
  13. capital — money
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. drill — army training
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. row — to paddle
  19. capital — a city
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. face — to point toward
  22. pop — music
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. rule — to rule 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