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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. mark — a grade
  6. shower — rain
  7. fall — the season
  8. row — to paddle
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a tool
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. row — a line
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mark — a trace
  16. clip — for paper
  17. shower — to wash
  18. fall — to drop
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. saw — the tool
  22. fall — to drop
  23. file — a line of people
  24. saw — the tool

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