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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 120 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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. file — a document
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. rule — a law
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stock — goods
  8. rule — government
  9. rock — a stone
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. bound — tied together
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spring — the season
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. rock — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. bound — obliged
  23. spring — of water
  24. bound — certain

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