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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. fall — to drop
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — a coil
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. degree — from a university
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. capital — money
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. file — a document
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. spring — the season

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