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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 120 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 cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. scale — size or range
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. clip — for paper
  7. file — a document
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. spring — the season
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. clip — to cut
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. spring — a coil
  18. suit — to fit
  19. suit — in cards
  20. clip — a video
  21. scale — in music
  22. spring — of water
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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