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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. tube — the underground
  5. clip — a video
  6. file — a line of people
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. object — to protest
  9. field — farmland
  10. clip — for paper
  11. land — to come down
  12. file — a document
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. land — a country
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. tube — a container
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. object — a thing
  19. land — ground
  20. field — a subject
  21. object — an aim
  22. file — a tool
  23. field — for sport
  24. rush — hurry

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