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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 124 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. face — part of the head
  3. saw — the tool
  4. face — to confront
  5. drill — a practice
  6. saw — the tool
  7. file — a document
  8. stock — shares
  9. swing — to play on
  10. stock — goods
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. drill — army training
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. face — to point toward
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. kid — child
  21. swing — in golf
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. drill — the tool
  24. swing — music

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