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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. lean — thin
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. scale — in music
  5. pop — soda
  6. drill — army training
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. clip — to cut
  11. scale — size or range
  12. pop — music
  13. root — of a plant
  14. clip — for paper
  15. drill — a practice
  16. pop — to visit
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. root — of a word
  20. clip — a video
  21. drill — the tool
  22. fall — the season
  23. root — the cause
  24. lean — to bend

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