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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. clip — for paper
  3. scale — size or range
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. game — wild animals
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. saw — the tool
  11. file — a document
  12. last — to go on
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. last — final
  16. last — finally
  17. clip — a video
  18. land — a country
  19. scale — in music
  20. clip — to cut
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. game — a match

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