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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. pop — soda
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. sharp — clever
  7. file — a document
  8. track — a path
  9. band — a ring
  10. pop — to visit
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fall — to drop
  14. file — a tool
  15. bass — the fish
  16. pop — music
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. band — a music group
  21. track — to keep track
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. file — a line of people
  24. track — a song

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