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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. file — a tool
  6. chip — for betting
  7. squash — the sport
  8. object — an aim
  9. file — a document
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. object — a thing
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. branch — a division
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. chip — to eat
  20. bat — the animal
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. file — a line of people
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. object — to protest

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