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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. mine — for digging
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. chest — of your body
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. file — a line of people
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. court — of law
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. court — of a king
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wind — moving air
  19. shower — to wash
  20. court — for sport
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. file — a document

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