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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. present — the time now
  3. land — a country
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. squash — the sport
  6. file — a document
  7. present — there
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. present — a gift
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. land — to come down
  16. squash — to crush
  17. file — a line of people
  18. land — ground
  19. cold — an illness
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bass — the fish
  23. file — a tool
  24. perch — the fish

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