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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. shower — rain
  3. file — a tool
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. plane — a tool
  6. scale — in music
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. file — a line of people
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — to crush
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. key — in music
  14. squash — the sport
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — the most important part
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. file — a document
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. shower — to wash
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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