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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 120 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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. mine — for digging
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bore — to tire
  5. file — a line of people
  6. saw — the tool
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. clip — for paper
  12. saw — the tool
  13. clip — a video
  14. bore — to drill
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. mine — an explosive

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