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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. file — a document
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. spring — the season
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stock — shares
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. stock — goods
  15. mine — for digging
  16. fine — high quality
  17. game — a match
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — a coil
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. spring — of water
  22. fine — all right
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. safe — out of danger

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