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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 124 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. last — to go on
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. file — a document
  8. roll — a cake
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. scale — size or range
  12. roll — a list
  13. last — final
  14. file — a tool
  15. scale — in music
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. mine — for digging
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. roll — on a roll

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