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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bear — the animal
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. plane — a tool
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. clip — for paper
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. file — a line of people
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. file — a document
  23. clip — a video
  24. file — a tool

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