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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 124 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — the animal
  3. file — a line of people
  4. race — the arms race
  5. file — a tool
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. race — a contest
  8. clip — to cut
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. clip — a video
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. fall — the season
  13. land — ground
  14. file — a document
  15. fall — to drop
  16. land — a country
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. dip — to sink
  19. race — humankind
  20. fall — to drop
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. land — to come down
  24. clip — for paper

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