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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  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. mouse — the animal
  2. file — a line of people
  3. plane — a tool
  4. row — a line
  5. spring — of water
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. tear — to rip
  12. file — a document
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. spring — the season
  16. row — to paddle
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. spring — a coil
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — to eat
  22. chip — for betting
  23. march — music
  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