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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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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: lean · sharp · race · club · pop · spell · scale · file

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. club — for golf
  3. spell — a short time
  4. scale — in music
  5. lean — thin
  6. club — for dancing
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. race — humankind
  9. sharp — clever
  10. spell — letters
  11. file — a line of people
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. race — the arms race
  14. club — a group
  15. pop — soda
  16. pop — music
  17. file — a tool
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. spell — magic
  20. lean — to bend
  21. race — a contest
  22. file — a document
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pop — to visit

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