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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. file — a document
  6. drill — a practice
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. clip — to cut
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. chip — to eat
  16. drill — army training
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. file — a line of people
  20. drill — the tool
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. chip — for betting
  24. date — the fruit

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