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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. file — a line of people
  4. hand — help
  5. pop — music
  6. pop — soda
  7. file — a tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pop — to visit
  10. bass — the fish
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. swing — to play on
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — low music
  21. file — a document
  22. kid — child
  23. swing — music
  24. hand — in cards

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