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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. clip — to cut
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. saw — the tool
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. file — a document
  8. clip — for paper
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. clip — a video
  11. prune — to trim
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. prune — to trim
  18. last — to go on

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