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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 116 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. spell — magic
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. ball — a great time
  5. march — the month
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. clip — for paper
  8. spell — a short time
  9. clip — a video
  10. spring — a coil
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. lie — to recline
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. file — a line of people
  16. march — music
  17. file — a tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. file — a document
  20. march — the month
  21. spring — the season
  22. spell — letters
  23. ball — a dance
  24. spring — of water

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