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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. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. suit — in cards
  3. file — a tool
  4. clip — for paper
  5. field — for sport
  6. fall — to drop
  7. clip — a video
  8. rest — a break
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. file — a line of people
  12. land — ground
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. craft — a skill
  17. craft — boats
  18. clip — to cut
  19. file — a document
  20. fall — the season
  21. land — a country
  22. land — to come down
  23. fall — to drop
  24. suit — to fit

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