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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.

Make a worksheet

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 need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. file — a tool
  3. land — a country
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. land — ground
  9. saw — the tool
  10. drill — army training
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. clip — to cut
  13. land — to come down
  14. saw — the tool
  15. spring — the season
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. file — a document
  18. drill — the tool
  19. clip — for paper
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. file — a line of people
  23. clip — a video
  24. chair — a leader

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