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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 116 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — government
  5. file — a line of people
  6. content — the amount
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — army training
  11. race — a contest
  12. club — a group
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. race — humankind
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. content — happy
  17. race — the arms race
  18. club — for golf
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. club — for dancing
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. chair — a leader

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