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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. toast — bread
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wound — an injury
  6. face — to point toward
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. craft — a skill
  10. clip — a video
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. craft — boats
  13. bound — obliged
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. face — to confront
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. bound — tied together
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bound — certain
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. face — part of the head
  23. file — a tool
  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