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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. file — a tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. spring — of water
  5. bear — the animal
  6. last — finally
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cold — an illness
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cold — not warm
  12. last — to go on
  13. file — a document
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. spring — the season
  17. last — final
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. spring — a coil
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. calf — a young animal

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