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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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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  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. last — finally
  2. last — to go on
  3. ball — a dance
  4. clip — a video
  5. mug — a cup
  6. mug — a face
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. file — a tool
  9. last — final
  10. mug — to rob
  11. ball — a great time
  12. file — a document
  13. spring — of water
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. press — to push
  16. spring — the season
  17. press — newspapers
  18. clip — for paper
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. press — a publisher
  21. clip — to cut
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ball — a round shape
  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