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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. land — ground
  3. scale — in music
  4. clip — for paper
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. current — of water
  8. clip — a video
  9. land — to come down
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. scale — size or range
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. file — a tool
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. file — a line of people
  18. current — electric
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — child
  21. land — a country
  22. kid — to tease
  23. clip — to cut
  24. current — happening now

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