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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cell — in biology
  4. land — ground
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. file — a document
  7. rash — a series
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. land — to come down
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. file — a tool
  16. rock — music
  17. cell — a phone
  18. can — to be able to
  19. kid — to tease
  20. land — a country
  21. rash — hasty
  22. can — a tin
  23. file — a line of people
  24. rock — a stone

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