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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. charge — electricity
  3. land — to come down
  4. file — a document
  5. charge — a price
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. face — to point toward
  8. land — ground
  9. rush — hurry
  10. land — a country
  11. tear — from crying
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kid — child
  14. tear — from crying
  15. file — a tool
  16. face — to confront
  17. tear — to rip
  18. clip — a video
  19. face — part of the head
  20. clip — to cut
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. kid — to tease
  24. charge — in control

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