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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. file — a tool
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. press — to push
  5. band — a music group
  6. press — newspapers
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. craft — a skill
  9. craft — boats
  10. press — a publisher
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fork — in a road
  13. file — a document
  14. clip — to cut
  15. band — a ring
  16. clip — a video
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. clip — for paper
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. cold — the Cold War

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