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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. key — in music
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — the tool
  6. key — for a lock
  7. land — ground
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wound — an injury
  11. file — a document
  12. key — the most important part
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bat — the animal
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. drill — a practice
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. wound — an injury
  20. land — to come down
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. band — a ring
  23. land — a country
  24. band — a music group

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