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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — for paper
  4. file — a line of people
  5. kick — in football
  6. ball — a dance
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. march — the month
  9. chest — of your body
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. file — a document
  13. chest — a box
  14. march — the month
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. last — finally
  17. clip — a video
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — final
  20. chest — of your body
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. march — music
  24. ball — a great time

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