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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. rule — a law
  3. fall — to drop
  4. staff — employees
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. fall — the season
  9. bat — the animal
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. fall — to drop
  13. staff — employees
  14. rule — government
  15. file — a document
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. staff — a stick
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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