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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. clip — a video
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. cue — a hint
  5. firm — a company
  6. last — to go on
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. last — final
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. land — ground
  12. file — a document
  13. land — to come down
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. firm — steady
  16. last — finally
  17. cue — for pool
  18. file — a tool
  19. firm — decided
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cue — a signal
  22. clip — for paper
  23. file — a line of people
  24. land — a country

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