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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. file — a line of people
  3. file — a document
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. prune — to trim
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — after costs
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. net — in sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. scale — size or range
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ball — a dance
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. file — a tool

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