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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. clip — to cut
  3. plane — a tool
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bear — the animal
  8. file — a document
  9. mine — for digging
  10. rule — a law
  11. bear — the animal
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. wind — moving air
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. file — a tool
  19. rule — government
  20. file — a line of people
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. clip — a video
  24. hide — animal skin

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