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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. clip — a video
  3. file — a tool
  4. fine — all right
  5. scale — size or range
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fine — high quality
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. bat — the animal
  10. file — a document
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bound — tied together
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bound — certain
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bound — obliged
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. kid — to tease
  24. fine — a penalty

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