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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 116 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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rock — music
  3. fall — the season
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a line of people
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — a series
  9. hand — help
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. rock — a stone
  12. hand — in cards
  13. fall — to drop
  14. file — a tool
  15. spell — letters
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — in sport
  19. lean — thin
  20. spell — magic
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. spell — a short time
  23. fall — to drop
  24. lean — to bend

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