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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 116 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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Word bank
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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fork — in a road
  4. race — a contest
  5. file — a document
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mug — a face
  10. capital — a city
  11. clip — to cut
  12. file — a line of people
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. clip — a video
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. mug — a cup
  19. snap — to click
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — the arms race
  22. file — a tool
  23. capital — money
  24. clip — for paper

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