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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. fine — all right
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. can — a tin
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. file — a line of people
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. file — a document
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ball — a dance
  13. clip — to cut
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a great time
  17. fine — high quality
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. can — to be able to
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. can — a tin

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