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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cap — of ice
  3. drill — army training
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. roll — a cake
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. file — a document
  8. roll — a list
  9. cap — a lid
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. stem — to come from
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cap — a hat
  16. drill — a practice
  17. file — a line of people
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. capital — money
  22. rush — hurry
  23. drill — the tool
  24. straw — a straw man

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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