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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. file — a tool
  4. fall — the season
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. shower — rain
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. shower — to wash
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. sharp — clever
  16. file — a line of people
  17. foot — a measure
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. file — a document
  20. row — to paddle
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. march — the month
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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