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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stick · cell · straw · file · wind · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. file — a document
  4. last — to go on
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. wind — moving air
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — a phone
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. file — a line of people
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. file — a 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