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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. can — to be able to
  3. chest — of your body
  4. game — wild animals
  5. season — in sport
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. file — a document
  8. can — a tin
  9. clip — to cut
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. bass — the fish
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bass — low music
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. chest — of your body
  17. clip — a video
  18. game — a match
  19. chest — a box
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. file — a tool
  22. can — a tin
  23. file — a line of people
  24. game — a kind of play

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