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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rest — a break
  3. file — a line of people
  4. clip — for paper
  5. content — happy
  6. row — to paddle
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kick — in football
  9. march — the month
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. march — the month
  12. march — music
  13. key — in music
  14. key — for a lock
  15. content — the amount
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. file — a tool
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. file — a document
  21. clip — a video
  22. rest — what's left
  23. row — a line
  24. key — the most important part

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