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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. tube — a container
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. march — the month
  5. current — electric
  6. clip — to cut
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. file — a tool
  9. branch — a division
  10. current — of water
  11. march — the month
  12. squash — to crush
  13. march — music
  14. clip — for paper
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. tube — the underground
  18. file — a document
  19. capital — a city
  20. current — happening now
  21. capital — money
  22. clip — a video
  23. squash — the sport
  24. branch — of a tree

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