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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. face — to point toward
  5. chip — to eat
  6. march — the month
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. scale — size or range
  9. cold — not warm
  10. scale — in music
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. file — a line of people
  15. face — to confront
  16. file — a document
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. march — music
  19. chip — for betting
  20. march — the month
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. face — part of the head
  24. chip — in a computer

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