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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cap — of ice
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. file — a line of people
  6. dip — to sink
  7. file — a document
  8. cap — a hat
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. file — a tool
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cap — a lid
  14. current — of water
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. clip — for paper
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. fork — in a road
  19. current — electric
  20. clip — a video
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. cell — a phone
  23. current — happening now
  24. shower — rain

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