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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. bear — the animal
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. race — humankind
  10. fork — in a road
  11. rule — government
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. fall — to drop
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. rule — a law
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bear — the animal
  20. race — the arms race
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. race — a contest
  24. clip — to cut

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