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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. file — a tool
  3. bore — to drill
  4. hand — help
  5. file — a document
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. file — a line of people
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. cold — not warm
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. bore — to tire
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — to eat
  17. saw — the tool
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. saw — the tool
  22. clip — a video
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. clip — for paper

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