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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. rock — music
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. tube — the underground
  5. season — of the year
  6. file — a tool
  7. roll — a list
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. roll — a cake
  10. season — in sport
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. rock — a stone
  15. tube — a container
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. staff — a stick
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. staff — employees
  24. season — to add flavour

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