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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. file — a document
  3. present — a gift
  4. shower — to wash
  5. file — a line of people
  6. present — the time now
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cap — a hat
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. march — the month
  11. cap — a lid
  12. present — there
  13. march — the month
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. hand — help
  16. wound — an injury
  17. perch — the fish
  18. shower — rain
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — in cards
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. march — music
  23. file — a tool
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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