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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. mark — a grade
  3. chest — of your body
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mark — a trace
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. chest — of your body
  12. file — a line of people
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. ground — a position
  17. clip — for paper
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. dip — to sink
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. shower — rain
  24. clip — to cut

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