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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. file — a tool
  5. pound — a weight
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a document
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stock — shares
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. drill — army training
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. drill — the tool
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. drill — a practice
  19. row — to paddle
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. stock — goods
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. coach — a trainer

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