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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  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. nail — for a hammer
  2. clip — to cut
  3. craft — boats
  4. file — a tool
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. track — a path
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. file — a line of people
  11. clip — for paper
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. track — a song
  20. clip — a video
  21. file — a document
  22. track — to keep track
  23. craft — a skill
  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