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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. toast — bread
  7. fork — in a road
  8. clip — a video
  9. file — a document
  10. rash — hasty
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. file — a tool
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a line
  17. rash — a series
  18. drill — a practice
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. drill — army training
  22. file — a line of people
  23. clip — for paper
  24. drill — the tool

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