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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. staff — employees
  3. roll — a cake
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. staff — employees
  10. roll — a list
  11. staff — a stick
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. shower — rain
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. wound — an injury
  17. file — a document
  18. shower — to wash
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. fork — in a road
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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