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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. file — a document
  5. clip — a video
  6. chip — to eat
  7. tear — from crying
  8. track — a path
  9. clip — to cut
  10. track — to keep track
  11. spell — letters
  12. tear — to rip
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. track — a song
  15. file — a line of people
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. file — a tool
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. tear — from crying
  21. spell — magic
  22. chip — for betting
  23. mine — for digging
  24. spell — a short time

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