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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. key — for a lock
  7. race — a contest
  8. file — a document
  9. scale — in music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. race — the arms race
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. race — humankind
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. key — the most important part
  23. scale — size or range
  24. perch — for a bird

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