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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. file — a tool
  7. mine — for digging
  8. file — a line of people
  9. perch — the fish
  10. file — a document
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chip — to eat
  13. clip — a video
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — to cut
  23. chip — for betting
  24. mine — an explosive

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