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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 120 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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. rest — what's left
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. file — a tool
  6. last — finally
  7. last — final
  8. clip — a video
  9. ball — a great time
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — the arms race
  12. file — a document
  13. track — to keep track
  14. clip — for paper
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. race — a contest
  20. last — to go on
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. rest — what's left
  23. track — a path
  24. track — a song

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