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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. file — a tool
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. clip — for paper
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. tear — to rip
  13. content — happy
  14. stand — to bear
  15. content — the amount
  16. clip — to cut
  17. wound — an injury
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. perch — the fish
  20. row — a line
  21. clip — a video
  22. file — a line of people
  23. row — to paddle
  24. wound — an injury

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