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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 120 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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. clip — to cut
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spring — of water
  7. clip — a video
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. spring — the season
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. mark — a grade
  13. clip — for paper
  14. spring — a coil
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. mark — a trace
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a committee
  23. rush — hurry
  24. shower — to wash

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