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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: file · wound · land · bay · scale · row · shower · rest

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. land — to come down
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. file — a line of people
  8. row — to paddle
  9. land — a country
  10. file — a document
  11. row — a line
  12. rest — a break
  13. shower — rain
  14. wound — an injury
  15. land — ground
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. wound — an injury
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. rest — what's left
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. rest — what's left

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