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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. band — a ring
  3. plane — a tool
  4. band — a music group
  5. file — a tool
  6. key — in music
  7. file — a document
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mark — a trace
  12. can — a tin
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. deal — to handle
  17. key — for a lock
  18. file — a line of people
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. mark — a grade
  21. can — to be able to
  22. key — the most important part
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. plane — in geometry

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