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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. clip — for paper
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bound — obliged
  5. clip — a video
  6. bear — the animal
  7. file — a document
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — rain
  10. bound — certain
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. bound — tied together
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. row — a line
  17. bear — the animal
  18. ball — a great time
  19. clip — to cut
  20. file — a line of people
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. ball — a dance
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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