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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. staff — a stick
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rash — a series
  13. roll — a cake
  14. file — a line of people
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. plane — a tool
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. file — a document
  19. rash — hasty
  20. roll — a list
  21. staff — employees
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. staff — employees
  24. shower — rain

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