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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. object — to protest
  3. file — a tool
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. hand — help
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. object — an aim
  11. object — a thing
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. file — a document
  17. hand — in cards
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pitch — completely
  20. scale — size or range
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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