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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 116 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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. race — humankind
  6. bulb — for light
  7. file — a document
  8. bulb — for light
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. rule — a law
  11. file — a tool
  12. staff — employees
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. band — a music group
  15. rule — government
  16. band — a ring
  17. file — a line of people
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. race — a contest
  23. staff — employees
  24. perch — the fish

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