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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. land — ground
  5. face — to confront
  6. land — to come down
  7. rule — government
  8. file — a line of people
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rule — a law
  11. file — a tool
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. face — to point toward
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. rush — hurry
  20. sharp — clever
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. land — a country
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. face — part of the head

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