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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. net — in sport
  3. game — a match
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. file — a tool
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. kick — in football
  9. wind — moving air
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — rain
  12. net — after costs
  13. wind — moving air
  14. plane — a tool
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. net — for catching
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. file — a document
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. game — wild animals
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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