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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. spring — of water
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. swing — in golf
  18. spring — the season
  19. file — a line of people
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. spring — a coil
  23. file — a document
  24. arm — a part of something

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