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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. bank — for money
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. fall — the season
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. fall — to drop
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. scale — in music
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. scale — size or range
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bank — of a river
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. mate — to breed
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a document
  20. mate — a friend
  21. kid — child
  22. mate — a partner
  23. file — a tool
  24. bank — for money

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