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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 120 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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. tear — to rip
  3. file — a tool
  4. row — a line
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. tear — from crying
  9. file — a line of people
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. saw — the tool
  13. row — to paddle
  14. march — music
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. file — a document
  20. squash — the sport
  21. tear — from crying
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — to come from

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