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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. file — a line of people
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. drill — a practice
  5. ground — crushed
  6. fall — to drop
  7. drill — the tool
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. clip — to cut
  10. present — a gift
  11. file — a document
  12. fall — to drop
  13. file — a tool
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — a position
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. present — the time now
  19. clip — for paper
  20. drill — army training
  21. present — there
  22. scale — in music
  23. clip — a video
  24. fall — the season

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