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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 116 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. spell — a short time
  3. bound — tied together
  4. row — a line
  5. bound — obliged
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. scale — in music
  8. dip — to sink
  9. row — to paddle
  10. scale — size or range
  11. drill — a practice
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. spell — letters
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. spell — magic
  16. pit — in a race
  17. file — a tool
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. bound — certain
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. pit — a hole
  23. file — a document
  24. row — a quarrel

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