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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. scale — size or range
  3. mate — a friend
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. clip — a video
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. scale — in music
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. mate — a partner
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a document
  15. clip — for paper
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. shower — rain
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. mate — to breed
  21. snap — to click
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. clip — to cut
  24. nail — for a hammer

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