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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. spring — of water
  3. plane — a tool
  4. chip — for betting
  5. file — a document
  6. spring — a coil
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bat — the animal
  9. mate — a partner
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. chip — to eat
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. file — a line of people
  14. ground — a position
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. ground — the earth
  19. mate — a friend
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. ground — crushed
  23. spring — the season
  24. file — a tool

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