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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. row — to paddle
  5. shower — to wash
  6. capital — money
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. swing — music
  10. rash — hasty
  11. swing — to play on
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. shower — rain
  16. row — a line
  17. capital — a city
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. file — a document
  22. swing — in golf
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. capital — a big letter

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