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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. fall — the season
  3. clip — for paper
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. cue — a signal
  7. fall — to drop
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. file — a tool
  10. shower — to wash
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. shower — rain
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — a tool
  15. cue — for pool
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cue — a hint
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — a video
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. clip — to cut
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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