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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. file — a tool
  3. land — ground
  4. court — for sport
  5. spell — a short time
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. file — a document
  10. chip — to eat
  11. land — to come down
  12. clip — for paper
  13. land — a country
  14. clip — a video
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — magic
  17. bark — to shout
  18. chip — for betting
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. file — a line of people
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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