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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. file — a document
  3. fine — all right
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. last — to go on
  7. shower — to wash
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. fine — high quality
  14. rock — music
  15. rock — a stone
  16. shower — rain
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to bend
  19. last — finally
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. chip — for betting
  24. rock — to move gently

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