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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 water is too ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spell — letters
  3. club — for dancing
  4. spell — magic
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. spell — a short time
  8. saw — the tool
  9. board — to get on
  10. club — a group
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. row — a line
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. club — for golf
  17. board — a committee
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. file — a document
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a tool
  23. saw — the tool
  24. row — to paddle

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