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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.

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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. spring — a coil
  3. clip — for paper
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. ground — a position
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. file — a tool
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. ground — crushed
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. ground — the earth
  15. file — a line of people
  16. clip — to cut
  17. spring — the season
  18. clip — a video
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. spring — of water
  21. file — a document
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. fan — a supporter

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