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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. game — a match
  3. file — a document
  4. cold — not warm
  5. key — the most important part
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wake — a trail
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. suit — to fit
  12. suit — clothes
  13. drill — army training
  14. content — happy
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. key — for a lock
  18. game — wild animals
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. drill — a practice
  21. key — in music
  22. suit — in cards
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. drill — the tool

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