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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. fine — all right
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. land — ground
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fine — high quality
  9. file — a tool
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. net — in sport
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — of a river
  14. scale — in music
  15. file — a document
  16. bank — for money
  17. net — for catching
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. net — after costs
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. lash — an eyelash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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