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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. scale — in music
  3. last — final
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. board — to get on
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. game — wild animals
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. last — to go on
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. clip — for paper
  17. last — finally
  18. board — a committee
  19. file — a document
  20. mine — for digging
  21. file — a tool
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. scale — size or range

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