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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. last — final
  5. present — a gift
  6. club — for dancing
  7. present — there
  8. present — the time now
  9. club — for golf
  10. last — finally
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. last — to go on
  15. club — a group
  16. clip — for paper
  17. file — a document
  18. clip — a video
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cell — in biology
  22. rush — hurry
  23. file — a tool
  24. nail — on a finger

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