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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. hand — in cards
  4. kid — to tease
  5. last — final
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. rock — a stone
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. clip — a video
  12. file — a line of people
  13. clip — to cut
  14. mark — a trace
  15. clip — for paper
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. file — a tool
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. last — finally
  20. hand — help
  21. mark — a grade
  22. last — to go on
  23. kid — child
  24. rock — music

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