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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. rash — hasty
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rash — a series
  5. key — for a lock
  6. fork — in a road
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. key — the most important part
  11. mine — for digging
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. lean — to bend
  14. clip — a video
  15. file — a document
  16. key — in music
  17. clip — to cut
  18. file — a tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. lean — thin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — an illness

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