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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. tear — to rip
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. prune — to trim
  8. tear — from crying
  9. stock — goods
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a match
  13. tear — from crying
  14. scale — in music
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. scale — size or range
  17. stock — shares
  18. file — a line of people
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. game — wild animals
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. scale — for weighing

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