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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 116 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. chip — for betting
  4. wound — an injury
  5. file — a document
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. file — a tool
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wound — an injury
  13. drill — the tool
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. rule — a law
  16. chip — to eat
  17. drill — army training
  18. rule — government
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bat — the animal
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tube — a container
  23. drill — a practice
  24. tube — the underground

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