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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. wind — moving air
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — army training
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. scale — in music
  12. game — wild animals
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wind — moving air
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. file — a line of people
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. drill — the 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