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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. mine — an explosive
  2. fall — the season
  3. roll — a cake
  4. mine — for digging
  5. file — a document
  6. key — for a lock
  7. march — the month
  8. key — in music
  9. craft — a skill
  10. clip — a video
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. roll — a list
  13. fall — to drop
  14. clip — to cut
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. file — a tool
  20. key — the most important part
  21. fall — to drop
  22. craft — boats
  23. clip — for paper
  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