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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — to cut
  5. track — a song
  6. clip — a video
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. suit — to fit
  9. scale — size or range
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. file — a document
  13. cold — an illness
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cold — not warm
  18. track — to keep track
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. suit — clothes
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. file — a tool

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