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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. clip — for paper
  3. file — a line of people
  4. row — a line
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. staff — employees
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. land — ground
  11. row — to paddle
  12. rest — what's left
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. staff — a stick
  15. rest — what's left
  16. kid — child
  17. land — to come down
  18. rush — hurry
  19. clip — to cut
  20. staff — employees
  21. land — a country
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. clip — a video

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