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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. tear — from crying
  3. press — to push
  4. tube — a container
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tube — the underground
  7. press — a publisher
  8. game — wild animals
  9. press — newspapers
  10. clip — for paper
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a document
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fine — all right
  18. drill — a practice
  19. game — a match
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. drill — army training
  22. fine — high quality
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. drill — the tool

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