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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. file — a document
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. squash — the sport
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. face — part of the head
  9. file — a line of people
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — to crush
  12. face — to confront
  13. chip — for betting
  14. face — to point toward
  15. chip — to eat
  16. march — the month
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. land — ground
  23. file — a tool
  24. racket — a loud noise

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