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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. clip — a video
  4. spring — of water
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — in a road
  8. file — a document
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. wake — a trail
  11. chip — for betting
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. chip — to eat
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. clip — to cut
  16. band — a music group
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. spring — a coil
  20. clip — for paper
  21. band — a ring
  22. file — a tool
  23. spring — the season
  24. file — a line of people

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