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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. present — the time now
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. file — a tool
  6. land — to come down
  7. chest — a box
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. land — a country
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. present — a gift
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. roll — a list
  16. capital — money
  17. file — a document
  18. capital — a city
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fork — in a road
  23. land — ground
  24. roll — a cake

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