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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 carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. game — wild animals
  3. race — a contest
  4. saw — the tool
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. clip — a video
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. file — a line of people
  13. clip — to cut
  14. craft — a skill
  15. race — humankind
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. saw — the tool
  19. race — the arms race
  20. file — a tool
  21. clip — for paper
  22. game — a match
  23. craft — boats
  24. file — a document

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