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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. file — a line of people
  3. present — a gift
  4. bat — the animal
  5. root — of a word
  6. mate — to breed
  7. root — the cause
  8. present — there
  9. mate — a friend
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. mate — a partner
  13. capital — a city
  14. wound — an injury
  15. present — the time now
  16. race — the arms race
  17. file — a tool
  18. race — a contest
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. root — of a plant
  21. race — humankind
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. capital — money

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