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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. shower — to wash
  5. fall — the season
  6. clip — for paper
  7. file — a tool
  8. board — to get on
  9. fall — to drop
  10. shower — rain
  11. kick — in football
  12. fall — to drop
  13. tube — the underground
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. file — a document
  16. tube — a container
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. board — a committee
  24. clip — a video

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