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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  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. staff — employees
  2. fall — the season
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. land — to come down
  5. file — a line of people
  6. spring — a coil
  7. file — a document
  8. cue — for pool
  9. track — a path
  10. land — a country
  11. land — ground
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cue — a signal
  14. fall — to drop
  15. staff — a stick
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cue — a hint
  18. mark — a grade
  19. staff — employees
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a song
  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