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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. deal — to handle
  3. rock — music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rock — a stone
  7. root — of a word
  8. scale — size or range
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. root — the cause
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. root — of a plant
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. scale — in music
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. calf — a young animal

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