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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. file — a document
  6. game — wild animals
  7. cold — not warm
  8. drill — the tool
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. club — a group
  11. file — a tool
  12. stock — goods
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. club — for dancing
  15. game — a match
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. club — for golf
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. drill — army training
  23. cold — an illness
  24. drill — a practice

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