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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. face — to confront
  3. stock — goods
  4. file — a document
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — part of the head
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bulb — for light
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. band — a music group
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. band — a ring
  15. stock — shares
  16. rush — hurry
  17. cell — in biology
  18. file — a tool
  19. bulb — for light
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. clip — a video
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cell — a phone

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