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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. file — a document
  3. vault — a safe
  4. last — finally
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. file — a tool
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. clip — a video
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. last — to go on
  16. ground — the earth
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. last — final
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. ground — a position
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. file — a line of people
  24. ground — crushed

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