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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. clip — a video
  3. object — to protest
  4. present — a gift
  5. clip — to cut
  6. object — a thing
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. file — a tool
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. fine — all right
  12. file — a line of people
  13. clip — for paper
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. present — the time now
  16. file — a document
  17. present — there
  18. fine — high quality

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