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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. file — a document
  3. tube — the underground
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stock — shares
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — child
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. stock — goods
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. kid — to tease
  18. cold — an illness
  19. file — a line of people
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wake — a trail
  22. tube — a container
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. bowl — a dish

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