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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. rock — music
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. cold — not warm
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. file — a tool
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. cold — an illness
  13. land — a country
  14. track — to keep track
  15. scale — size or range
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. land — to come down
  18. file — a document
  19. rock — a stone
  20. land — ground
  21. track — a song
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. scale — in music
  24. nail — for a hammer

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