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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. file — a line of people
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rule — government
  5. bound — certain
  6. bound — tied together
  7. mine — for digging
  8. file — a tool
  9. row — to paddle
  10. roll — a list
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. bound — obliged
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — a match
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. game — wild animals
  19. row — a line
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. rule — a law
  23. file — a document
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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