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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. land — a country
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pit — a hole
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — a video
  7. land — ground
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. wind — moving air
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. staff — employees
  13. pit — in a race
  14. wind — moving air
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. clip — for paper
  19. file — a tool
  20. staff — a stick
  21. file — a line of people
  22. land — to come down
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. staff — employees

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