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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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  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. cue — a hint
  2. clip — for paper
  3. saw — the tool
  4. pit — a hole
  5. clip — a video
  6. wind — moving air
  7. file — a document
  8. ground — a position
  9. pit — in a race
  10. bark — to shout
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. file — a tool
  15. wind — moving air
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cue — for pool
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. ground — the earth
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cue — a signal
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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