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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 116 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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. scale — size or range
  7. fork — in a road
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — for paper
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. file — a document
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. capital — a big letter

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