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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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. file — a document
  3. key — the most important part
  4. roll — a cake
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cold — an illness
  9. drill — army training
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. key — for a lock
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — the tool
  16. rest — a break
  17. stock — shares
  18. cold — not warm
  19. file — a tool
  20. key — in music
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. roll — a list
  24. rest — what's left

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