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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rest — a break
  6. bank — of a river
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. fall — the season
  9. file — a document
  10. wound — an injury
  11. sharp — clever
  12. prune — to trim
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. rest — what's left
  15. wound — an injury
  16. file — a line of people
  17. prune — to trim
  18. file — a tool
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. rest — what's left
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — for money
  24. fall — to drop

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