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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. file — a tool
  5. clip — a video
  6. file — a line of people
  7. craft — a skill
  8. race — the arms race
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — humankind
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. clip — to cut
  17. craft — boats
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. clip — for paper
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — a leader
  24. file — a document

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