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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. file — a document
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wound — an injury
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pass — a permit
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pass — to succeed

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