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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. game — wild animals
  3. plane — a tool
  4. lie — to recline
  5. file — a document
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pop — soda
  10. branch — a division
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — a city
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. capital — money
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. pop — music
  22. game — a match
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. pop — to visit

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