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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. spell — magic
  4. file — a document
  5. clip — a video
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pit — a hole
  11. scale — in music
  12. file — a tool
  13. field — for sport
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. spell — a short time
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. pit — in a race
  19. clip — to cut
  20. field — a subject
  21. file — a line of people
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. spell — letters
  24. field — farmland

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