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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 120 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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rock — a stone
  3. clip — a video
  4. bound — certain
  5. land — a country
  6. rock — music
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bound — obliged
  10. season — of the year
  11. file — a tool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. land — to come down
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. clip — for paper
  19. land — ground
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. mine — for digging
  22. season — in sport
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bound — tied together

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