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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. file — a document
  4. root — of a word
  5. clip — a video
  6. file — a tool
  7. row — a line
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. root — the cause
  10. file — a line of people
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. cell — a phone
  13. fork — in a road
  14. craft — boats
  15. cell — in biology
  16. dip — to sink
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. root — of a plant
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. craft — a skill
  24. row — to paddle

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