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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 120 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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. file — a tool
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. spell — letters
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. bore — to drill
  12. band — a ring
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spring — of water
  16. plane — a tool
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. spring — the season
  20. band — a music group
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bore — to tire
  23. spring — a coil
  24. file — a document

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