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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. mark — a trace
  3. cold — not warm
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. staff — a stick
  6. shower — rain
  7. staff — employees
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. shower — to wash
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. clip — for paper
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. saw — the tool
  18. staff — employees
  19. file — a document
  20. clip — to cut
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. mark — a grade
  24. file — a line of people

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