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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. spring — a coil
  3. fine — all right
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. spring — the season
  14. mine — for digging
  15. stem — to come from
  16. spring — of water
  17. fine — high quality
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. perch — the fish
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. kick — in football

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