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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. saw — the tool
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. court — of law
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. can — a tin
  14. saw — the tool
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — of the year
  18. file — a line of people
  19. can — a tin
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. can — to be able to
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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