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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  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. craft — boats
  2. file — a line of people
  3. clip — for paper
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hand — help
  8. sharp — clever
  9. spell — a short time
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. spell — magic
  12. wind — moving air
  13. race — a contest
  14. clip — a video
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. spell — letters
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. file — a tool
  19. race — the arms race
  20. hand — in cards
  21. file — a document
  22. craft — a skill
  23. race — humankind
  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