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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. shower — to wash
  3. rash — hasty
  4. land — ground
  5. tear — from crying
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. file — a tool
  9. spell — magic
  10. season — in sport
  11. last — final
  12. spell — letters
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rash — a series
  15. season — of the year
  16. shower — rain
  17. last — finally
  18. spell — a short time
  19. last — to go on
  20. land — to come down
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — a country
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. tear — to rip

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