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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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 — a video
  3. file — a document
  4. file — a tool
  5. shower — rain
  6. capital — money
  7. shower — to wash
  8. present — there
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. capital — a city
  12. land — to come down
  13. clip — to cut
  14. drill — army training
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. present — the time now
  18. drill — the tool
  19. present — a gift
  20. drill — a practice
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. land — a country
  23. land — ground
  24. capital — a big letter

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