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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. clip — for paper
  3. rush — hurry
  4. file — a document
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. swing — to play on
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. swing — in golf
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. swing — music
  17. deal — to handle
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. cold — an illness
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. file — a tool
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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