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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 120 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. row — a line
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — the animal
  6. last — finally
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. game — a match
  13. last — final
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. file — a line of people
  19. last — to go on
  20. saw — the tool
  21. file — a document
  22. row — to paddle
  23. game — wild animals
  24. row — a quarrel

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