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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: pop · scale · file · bowl · wind · snap · cold · ruler

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. file — a tool
  3. scale — size or range
  4. pop — soda
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pop — to visit
  9. file — a line of people
  10. snap — to click
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. file — a document
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. scale — in music
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pop — music
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. ruler — for measuring

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