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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a line of people
  8. race — humankind
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. capital — money
  14. rash — a series
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. mine — for digging
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. race — a contest
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. race — the arms race
  24. capital — a city

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