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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. shower — to wash
  5. suit — in cards
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. suit — clothes
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bass — low music
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. bass — the fish
  13. suit — to fit
  14. shower — rain
  15. wake — a trail
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — a series
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. fork — in a road
  20. rash — hasty
  21. cell — in biology
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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