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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 116 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: last · stick · shower · cold · file · wind · club · drill

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. wind — moving air
  4. file — a tool
  5. last — final
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. last — to go on
  9. wind — moving air
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. drill — army training
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. last — finally
  14. file — a line of people
  15. club — a group
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. club — for golf
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cold — not warm
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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