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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a document
  5. march — music
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. club — a group
  10. drill — the tool
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. shower — rain
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. fork — in a road
  20. file — a tool
  21. club — for golf
  22. drill — army training
  23. club — for dancing
  24. mine — for digging

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