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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — of ice
  5. ball — a great time
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. clip — to cut
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. file — a tool
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cap — a hat
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bank — for money
  15. file — a document
  16. mine — for digging
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bank — of a river
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — a video
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bank — for money

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