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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. clip — a video
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bat — the animal
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — completely
  8. file — a tool
  9. pit — in a race
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. drill — army training
  14. pit — a hole
  15. file — a document
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. drill — a practice
  19. land — ground
  20. drill — the tool
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. clip — to cut
  23. land — a country
  24. clip — for paper

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