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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. file — a tool
  5. spell — magic
  6. present — there
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. present — the time now
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. club — for dancing
  15. spell — letters
  16. club — a group
  17. file — a document
  18. present — a gift
  19. tear — to rip
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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