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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: straw · file · shower · rule · squash · wound · scale · plane

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. squash — the sport
  3. squash — to crush
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. rule — a law
  7. plane — a tool
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. shower — to wash
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. rule — government
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. scale — size or range
  20. shower — rain
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wound — an injury
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wound — an injury

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