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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — in sport
  4. lean — to bend
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. drill — army training
  8. file — a tool
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. firm — a company
  13. lean — thin
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — the tool
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. file — a document
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. firm — decided
  21. scale — size or range
  22. firm — steady
  23. file — a line of people
  24. scale — in music

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