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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. spell — letters
  3. spring — the season
  4. stand — to bear
  5. spring — a coil
  6. shower — to wash
  7. march — the month
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to click
  10. file — a tool
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. spring — of water
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. march — music
  17. kick — in football
  18. spell — a short time
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. file — a document
  21. shower — rain
  22. spell — magic
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. march — the month

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