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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. spell — letters
  3. row — to paddle
  4. degree — an amount
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. clip — to cut
  7. degree — temperature
  8. ground — the earth
  9. row — a line
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spell — magic
  13. clip — for paper
  14. chip — to eat
  15. ground — crushed
  16. file — a document
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. file — a tool
  19. kick — in football
  20. ground — a position
  21. spell — a short time
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. chip — for betting
  24. clip — a video

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