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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 116 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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — a trail
  4. file — a tool
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. capital — a city
  7. scale — size or range
  8. rule — government
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. file — a document
  12. present — a gift
  13. rule — a law
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. present — the time now
  20. file — a line of people
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. scale — in music
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. scale — for weighing

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