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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. club — for golf
  4. scale — in music
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. club — a group
  9. game — wild animals
  10. scale — size or range
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. game — a match
  13. shower — to wash
  14. cold — not warm
  15. content — happy
  16. shower — rain
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. content — the amount
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. safe — out of danger

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