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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fall — to drop
  4. foot — a measure
  5. rest — what's left
  6. clip — to cut
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. plane — a tool
  9. file — a tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fall — to drop
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. rest — what's left
  16. file — a line of people
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. rest — a break
  19. clip — a video
  20. fall — the season
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. straw — dry grass

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