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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rest — a break
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. clip — a video
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. file — a tool
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. file — a line of people
  10. track — a song
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. stock — shares
  13. row — to paddle
  14. rest — what's left
  15. file — a document
  16. stock — goods
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. rest — what's left
  19. track — to keep track
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. track — a path
  22. clip — to cut
  23. row — a line
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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