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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. bass — the fish
  3. tear — from crying
  4. file — a line of people
  5. date — the fruit
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wind — moving air
  8. vault — a safe
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wind — moving air
  12. scale — size or range
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. scale — in music
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. tear — to rip
  18. file — a tool
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. file — a document
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bass — low 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