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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. rest — a break
  4. file — a tool
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. charge — a price
  9. clip — a video
  10. file — a line of people
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. rest — what's left
  13. charge — electricity
  14. clip — for paper
  15. file — a document
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. charge — in control
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pop — soda
  23. rest — what's left
  24. pop — music

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