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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 120 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. present — the time now
  5. file — a tool
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. wound — an injury
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cold — an illness
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bass — low music
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. present — a gift
  16. cell — a phone
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. present — there
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. file — a document

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