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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  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. fine — high quality
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. tear — to rip
  4. fine — all right
  5. file — a tool
  6. staff — employees
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. file — a document
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. tear — from crying
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. tear — from crying
  13. staff — a stick
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bound — obliged
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. dip — to sink
  19. bound — certain
  20. file — a line of people
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. clip — a video
  23. staff — employees
  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