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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 always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. clip — a video
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spring — of water
  5. file — a tool
  6. can — a tin
  7. file — a document
  8. court — of law
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wind — moving air
  12. can — a tin
  13. court — of a king
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. can — to be able to
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — the season
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. court — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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