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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. file — a document
  3. march — the month
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. shower — rain
  6. race — humankind
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. spring — the season
  9. file — a line of people
  10. march — music
  11. race — a contest
  12. fall — to drop
  13. race — the arms race
  14. march — the month
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. scale — size or range
  18. file — a tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. shower — to wash
  21. fall — the season
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — a weight
  24. spring — of water

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