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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bear — the animal
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. file — a tool
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wake — a trail
  7. bear — the animal
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chest — of your body
  10. march — the month
  11. chest — a box
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — for paper
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. clip — a video
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. march — the month
  20. file — a document
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. march — music
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bear — to put up with

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