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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. mate — a friend
  3. stand — to bear
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. swing — to play on
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. file — a tool
  8. cell — in biology
  9. file — a document
  10. wake — a trail
  11. file — a line of people
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. swing — music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — for paper
  18. mate — a partner
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — a video
  22. swing — in golf
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. mate — to breed

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