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

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. land — to come down
  3. pitch — completely
  4. land — a country
  5. row — to paddle
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. file — a document
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. clip — a video
  10. scale — size or range
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. file — a tool
  14. land — ground
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — in music
  17. file — a line of people
  18. clip — to cut

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